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JOE  BENTLY 


NAVAL   CADET 


BY 

H.  H.  CLARK,  U.  S.  NAVY. 

Author  of  Boy  Life  in  the  United  States  Navy,  etc. 


BOSTON 

D     LOTHROP     COMPANY 

WASHINGTON  STREET  OPPOSITE  BROMFIELD 


Copyright,   1889, 

BY 

Lothrop  Company. 


To  the  Naval  Cadets  of  the  United  States  Ships 
Trenton  and  Lancaster 

With  whom  I  have  recently  been  abroad  in  the  world, 
in  sincere  appreciation  of  their  manly  character  and 
professional  ability,  and  with  the  hope  for  each  of  them 
of  an  honorable  career  in  the  service  of  their  country, 
this  story  of  a  cadet's  life  in  the  Navy  is  respectfully 
dedicated  by  the  Author. 


9594.70 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGE. 

Joe  at  the  Naval  Academy    ....         7 

CHAPTER  II. 
Joe  is  introduced  to  Mrs.  Pepper         .         .       17 

CHAPTER  III. 
He  receives  Orders        .         .         .         .         -37 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Assigned  to  his  Division        ....       54 

CHAPTER  V. 
First  Duty       .......       68 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Schopy's  Sketch      ......       83 

CHAPTER  VII. 

A    DESPERATE    ENCOUNTER  ....  98 

3 


3^3471 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Breaking  in  Cadets 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Forced  to  a  Compromise 

CHAPTER  X. 
A  spent  Shell 


CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Naval  Brigade 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
Fixing  a  Torpedo    . 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Katie  and  Maud 


"3 


129 


H5 


CHAPTER  XL 

A  mysterious  Voice         .         .         .         .  I61 


*75 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
Joe  and  Lieutenant  Bloomsbury  .         .         .191 


204 


219 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
Letting  the  Cat  out  of  the  Bag  .         .     235 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Spring  Keeps  Bubbling  .         .         .251 


CONTEXTS.  5 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Mrs.  Pepper's  Scheme     .         .         .  .         .267 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
That  Annapolis  Girl      .....     285 

CHAPTER  XX. 
A  Cabin  Tempest     .         .         .         .         .         .306 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Mr.  Long  .......     327 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Daybreak's  Reception     ....     346 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Katie's  golden  lily  of  a  Yacht    .         .         .     367 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
The  rising  young  Lawyer 


:92 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
In  the  Hollow  of  his  Hand  .         .         .     409 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
A  Suitable  Reward         .         .         .         .         -424 


JOE  BENTLY,  NAVAL  CADET. 

CHAPTER  I. 

JOE    AT    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY. 

FOUR  swift,  happy,  hard-working  years  have 
passed,  and  our  old  friend  and  hero,  Joe 
Bently,  is  no  longer  a  cadet  at  the  United  States 
Naval  Academy,  Annapolis.  We  took  our  leave 
of  Joe,  it  will  be  remembered,  alongside  the  Mes- 
sagerics  Imperiales  steamer  at  Smyrna,  Turkey, 
about  to  sail  for  Marseilles.  Aside  from  his  grief 
at  parting  from  his  ship  and  shipmates,  we  find 
him  now  more  elated,  if  possible,  over  his  success- 
ful graduation  than  over  the  eventful  and  happy 
fortune  attending  his  appointment  to  the  Acade- 
my. Joe  has  done  well.  A  few  of  his  class  have 
maintained  a  higher  average  in  languages,  but  in 
English  studies  and  mathematics,  he  has  taken 
second  rank.  In  strictly  professional  branches, 
however  — -  such  as  seamanship,  ordnance,  steam 
engineering,  etc.,  and  in  all  drills  —  none  has  ex- 
ceeded him. 

7 


8  JOE    AT    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY. 

He  has  also  been  very  popular,  alike  with  the 
cadets,  officers,  and  professors.  He  has  never 
been  guilty  of  hazing,  and  woe  has  befallen  sev- 
eral boys  who  in  their  innocence  attempted  to 
haze  him.  He  has  not  been  a  perfect  boy,  but 
judged  by  a  fair  standard  of  boyish  prupriety,  he 
has  at  all  times  during  his  course,  in  character 
and  conduct,  preserved  excellent  standing. 

Now,  on  the  evening  of  his  release  from  the 
stern  tutelage  and  supervision  of  his  instructors, 
he  is  sauntering  along  that  part  of  the  shore  com- 
prised in  the  Academy  grounds,  meditating  upon 
the  happy  years  that  have  flown,  and  prospecting 
on  what,  in  the  way  of  duty,  will  come  next.  A 
leave  of  absence  is  about  to  be  granted  him, 
which,  in  the  case  of  cadets  is  necessarily  short, 
owing  to  the  exigences  of  the  Service,  and  the 
need  of  thoroughly  equipping  them  with  the 
knowledge  of  an  officer's  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties at  sea. 

The  sun  is  nearly  set,  and  we  can  scarcely 
refrain  from  a  critical  survey  of  Master  Joe's  per- 
son as  he  stands,  or  rather  jaunts  along,  in  the 
slanting  light.  He  has  nearly  reached  the  dimen- 
sions of  manhood.  Tall,  rather  slender  than  oth- 
erwise, solidly  knit,  set  up  with  military  precision 
but  without  stiffness,  freckles  all  scoured  out,  a 
slight  appearance  about  the  lip  faintly  suggesting 
a   mustache,    a    marked    ease    of    bearing,   all   of 


JOE    AT    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY.  9 

which,  together  with  a  quiet,  genial  manner,  unite 
in  a  combination  of  details  that  make  Joe  an  un- 
usually presentable  young  cadet. 

Joe  is  not  alone.      A  classmate  not  far  from  his 
own  age  and  size  accompanies  him.      This  young 
gentleman  is  also  quite  noticeable.     Without,  per- 
haps, being  strikingly  handsome,  he  is  exceedingly 
good-looking.     He  is  a  bright-eyed,   round-faced, 
jovial  fellow;  has  a  fine  figure,  shown  to  its  best 
advantage  by  its  thorough  military  setting  up,  and 
is  very  sprightly  in  all  his  movements  and  conver- 
sation.     He  looks  like   a  very  daring,   impetuous 
young  fellow,  and,  taken  all  in  all,  produces  a  most 
agreeable   impression.     The   two  boys  have  been 
very   warm   friends    ever   since   they   entered   the 
Academy.     His  name  is  Harry  Edgerton,  and  he 
is  just  now  sounding  Joe  as  to  his  preference  for 
sea  duty.     Joe  is  giving  a  decided  expression  in 
favor  of  the  old  cruising  ground,  so  full  of  pleas- 
ant and  thrilling  memories. 

"I  prefer  China  or  the  South  Pacific,"  said 
Harry.  "No  European  or  home  squadron  for 
me,"  he  added  with. emphasis.  "I  got  enough  of 
home  cruising  in  the  Constellation  and  Dale,  and 
I  don't  care  to  see  Europe  till  I'm  high  up  on  the 

list." 

"That  will  be  a  very  long  time,"  remarked  Joe, 
laughing  at  Harry's  allusion  to  the  Navy  Register. 
"We've  got  to  be  cadets  two  years  yet." 


IO  JOE    A.T    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY. 

"Well,  I  don't  much  care,"  said  Harry.  "I 
suppose  I  got  my  ideas  up  on  the  Ouranos.  But 
didn't  we  just  have  a  jolly  time  in  her  ?  " 

This  observation  was  followed  by  a  deluge  of 
reminiscences.  The  Ouranos  was  a  fine  steam 
yacht  owned  by  Harry's  father.  He  had  permit- 
ted Harry,  during  his  last  summer  vacation,  to  go 
on  a  cruise  in  through  the  sound  and  along  the 
coast  as  far  as  Bar  Harbor  and  Eastport,  inviting 
as  many  of  his  young  friends  and  classmates  as 
he  saw  fit  to  accompany  him.  The  cruise  was  a 
glorious  one,  the  yacht  having  been  well  handled. 
After  being  practically  master  of  the  yacht,  though 
for  so  short  a  time,  we  do  not  wonder  at  Harry's 
ambitious  reference  to  the  "navy  list." 

"  Wouldn't  it  be  a  stroke  of  luck  if  we  should 
get  orders  to  the  same  ship?"  resumed  Harry. 

"Couldn't  be  anything  better,"  replied  Joe. 
"The  chance  is  very  much  in  our  favor,  too." 

"  How's  that  ?  " 

"  Why,  don't  you  see  ?  The  whole  class  num- 
bers thirty,  and  they  probably  won't  send  less  than 
six  to  any  single  ship.  That  gives  us  one  chance 
in  five  for  being  together." 

"So  it  does,"  said  Harry.  "But  I  hope  they 
won't  send  us  to  one  of  the  big  ships.  A  little 
ship,  a  roving  commission,  a  lively  old  war,  and  a 
shipwreck,  figure  up  my  nautical  aspirations  for 
the  next  two  years." 


JOE    AT    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY.  I  1 

"  No  doubt  the  Navy  Department  can  accom 
modate  you  with  everything  but  the  war,"  laughed 
Joe.  "  Perhaps  they  may  throw  that  in  after  a 
while,  too.  You're  all  right  for  the  shipwreck. 
They  say  they've  got  to  put  hoops  on  some  of 
the  ships  to  hold  them  together  another  cruise. 
But  here  comes  Schopenhauer." 

Both  cadets  turned  sharply  about  to  get  a  good 
look  at  the  new  comer,  who  was  hurrying  to  over- 
take them. 

A  certain  comical  cheerlessness  about  Schopen- 
hauer made  him  more  welcome  than  otherwise. 
His  real  name  was  Swem,  but  owing  to  his 
lugubrious  and  pessimistic  way  of  looking  at 
things  the  cadets  had  dubbed  him  with  the  sig- 
nificant name  of  Schopenhauer.  It  had  been  lit- 
erally tacked  upon  him,  for  he  had  found  it  one 
morning  fastened  to  his  blouse  with  brass-headed 
nails.  The  most  noticeable  thing  about  this  cadet 
was  that  he  seemed,  in  nautical  phrase,  very  much 
down  by  the  head.  A  wrong  distribution  of 
weights  in  his  nature,  so  to  speak,  had  left  him 
fatally  cast  down.  Even  his  voice  persisted  in 
the  falling  inflection. 

"What's  the  matter  now,  Schopy  ?  "  called  Joe. 
Schopy  was  the  cadet's  abridgement  of  Schopen- 
hauer. 

"I'm  taking  my  last  look  round,"  Swem  an- 
wered,  coming  to  a  halt. 


12  JOE    AT    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY. 

"Why,  you  going  to  resign?"  asked  Joe  and 
Harry  together. 

Swem's  one  hope  was  to  get  out  of  the  Navy, 
which  he  cordially  hated. 

"  No  such  good  luck.  But  I'll  probably  be 
ordered  to  Panama  or  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  I 
might  as  well  be  dead." 

"Oh,  you  won't  die,"  exclaimed  Harry,  bringing 
his  hand  hard  down  on  Swem's  shoulder  and  whirl- 
ing him  completely  round.  "  You're  not  the  kind 
that  goes  off  easily.  Besides,  you're  an  equatorial 
plant.  Don't  you  see  how  you  droop,  and  how 
shady  you  are  ?  " 

"Come,  come,  Schopy,  cheer  up,"  said  Joe,  very 
kindly.  "  You  mustn't  take  such  a  gloomy  view 
of  things." 

"Well,"  continued  Swem,  "I  don't  like  the 
prospect.  I  would  resign  in  a  minute  if  it  wasn't 
for  my  father.  He  thinks  I'm  made  in  the  Navy. 
The  speakers  to-day  in  the  chapel  all  thought  so, 
too.  If  they  could  only  see  the  Government's 
wards,  as  they  called  us,  three  weeks  from  now 
going  for  sand  "  — 

"Or  milk  for  the  Admiral's  baby,"  interrupted 
Harry,  with  an  air  of  comical  depression. 

"  It  isn't  becoming  in  us  to  want  to  pick  our 
stations,  or  to  speak  slightingly  of  our  duties  when 
we're  just  out  of  the  Academy,"  said  Joe. 

"  That's  all  very  well  for  you  fellows  who'll  be 


JOE    AT    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY.  1 3 

Coburgers  all  your  lives,  to  say.  You'll  get  the 
best  thing,  anyway." 

"  We  don't  want  to  be  Coburgers.  And  we've 
just  been  saying  we  don't  want  the  best  thing," 
said  Joe  warmly.  "The  harder  our  duty  is  at 
first  the  better." 

"  I  only  ask  for  something  that  will  wake  me 
up  —  stir  my  blood,"  remarked  Harry,  "whether 
it's  at  the  Equator  or  the  North  Pole." 

"Good  evening,  young  gentlemen,"  pleasantly 
observed  some  one  hitherto  unnoticed.  "Won't 
you  join  us  in  our  walk  ? " 

The    cadets    recognized    the    voice    as    that    of 

Commander ,  commandant  of   cadets.      They 

wheeled  quickly,  bringing  their  hands  to  their 
caps  in  a  prompt  salute.  Fearing  that  their  con- 
versation might  have  been  overheard,  they  con- 
fronted the  commandant  with  a  slight  air  of 
embarrassment.  But  he  showed  no  sign  of  having 
caught  a  word.  Like  themselves,  he  was  out  for 
a  stroll,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  two  little 
daughters.  The  commandant  was  widely  known 
as  a  distinguished  officer  of  the  Navy.  His  ideal 
of  his  profession  was  very  high,  and  while  endeav- 
oring to  realize  it  in  his  own  official  character,  he 
sought  earnestly  to  impress  it  upon  the  cadets. 
They  all  held  him  in  the  highest  admiration  and 
respect.  He  had  won  Joe's  esteem  especially,  and 
had  been  to  him   an   inspiring   example  of   what 


14  JOE    AT    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY. 

may  be  achieved  by  devotion  to  study  and  duty. 
Just  now  he  was  enthusiastic  over  the  efforts 
being  made  in  Congress  to  rehabilitate  the  Navy. 

"I  presume  you're  anxious  to  get  away,  now," 
the  commandant  observed  as  the  cadets  joined 
the  party.  "  Your  orders  are  here  ;  they  came  by 
the  afternoon  mail." 

"  May  I  take  the  liberty  of  asking  what  they 
are,  sir?"   respectfully  inquired  Joe. 

"  Oh,  the  customary  orders  :  directing  you  to 
proceed  to  your  home,  and  hold  yourself  in  readi- 
ness for  sea-duty." 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  responded  Joe. 

"  By  the  way  "  pursued  the  commandant,  Com- 
mander Farradale  has  requested  me  to  use  my 
influence  to  get  some  three  or  four  of  the  gradu- 
ating class  assigned  to  his  ship.  She's  small,  but 
quite  new,  and  has  modern  appliances." 

Unobserved  by  the  commandant,  the  three 
cadets  glanced  at  one  another  significantly. 

"  If  any,  or  all  of  you,  would  like  to  go,  I  think 
I  can  arrange  it  for  you,"  continued  the  com- 
mandant. 

"We'd  like  very  much  to  go,  sir,"  impulsively 
answered  Harry. 

"  Yes,  sir,  we  would  indeed,"  said  Swem,  sud- 
denly brightening  up  as  the  Panama  and  African 
spectres  went  down  under  the  commandant's  prop- 
osition. 


JOE    AT    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY.  1 5 

Joe  very  modestly  expressed  his  pleasure,  and 
asked  if  the  ship  referred  to  did  not  have  the 
latest  improvements  in  ordnance,  etc. 

"  Late,  but  not  the  latest,"  returned  the  com- 
mandant. "  I  hope  you  will  not  be  very  far  up  on 
the  list  before  we  have  new  ships,  new  guns  —  in 
fact  a  new  Navy  in  every  sense  of  the  word." 

"  It  looks  as  if  we'll  have  to  be  alive  to  keep  up 
with  the  advance  of  naval  science,"  said  Joe. 

"'  You  will,  indeed  !  I  know  of  no  profession 
more  exacting.  I  see  no  leisure  for  the  future 
naval  officer.  The  Navy  has  grown  to  be  practi- 
cally a  school  of  science." 

"Just  think  of  the  things  not  strictly  belonging 
to  the  profession  that  we  have  to  make  ourselves 
proficient  in,"  said  Harry;  "history,  international 
law,  languages,  and  their  like." 

"Yes,"  laughed  the  commandant,  "an  officer 
must  have  a  good  knowledge  of  history,  be  an 
accomplished  linguist,  and  quite  an  able  jurist;  he 
must  know  how  to  sail  a  ship,  fight  a  battle,  take 
charge  of  an  ordnance  foundry,  conduct  an  astro- 
nomical observatory,  and  escort  a  queen  over  the 
ship's  side." 

The  cadets  all  laughed  heartily  over  this  sum- 
mary of  an  officer's  duties  and  accomplishments. 

"  I  thought  the  remarks  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  just  before  he  handed  us  our  diplomas,  very 
much  to  the  point,  too,  sir,"  resumed  Joe. 


1 6  JOE    AT    THE    NAVAL    ACADEMY. 

"  O  yes  !  You  mean  that  part  of  his  address 
in  which  he  spoke  of  the  Navy  in  its  representa- 
tive capacity.  It  is  true,  as  he  said,  that  the  peo- 
ple of  other  nations  will  judge  of  the  country 
about  as  they  judge  of  you.  The  Navy  has  moral 
and  intellectual  as  well  as  military  significance." 

"  I  beg  pardon,  sir,"  said  Harry,  interrupting 
the  conversation,  "  I  think  the  orderly  is  coming 
now  with  our  orders." 

All  looked  in  the  direction  indicated  by  Harry, 
and  saw  the  superintendent's  orderly  hastily  ap- 
proaching them,  holding  a  package  of  papers  in 
his  hand.  The  superintendent,  realizing  the  brief 
stay  the  cadets  would  be  able  to  make  at  their 
homes,  had  sent  his  orderly  out  of  office  hours  to 
deliver  their  orders. 

A  glance  at  the  papers  sufficed.  The  contents 
were  of  the  agreeable  nature  already  disclosed. 
Bidding  the  commandant  a  hasty  good-by,  with- 
out having  forgotten,  however,  to  first  thank  him 
for  his  helpful  interest  in  them,  they  started  off 
with  no  little  celerity  for  their  valises  and  the 
train  :  Swem  to  catch  the  Chicago  night  express 
from  Baltimore,  and  Harry  and  Joe  the  Pullman 
for  New  York,  whence,  next  morning,  Joe  would 
start  for  his  home  in  Maine,  paying  a  promised 
visit  to  the  Astons  in  Portland,  on  the  way. 


CHAPTER  II. 

JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

JOE'S  friends,  the  Astons,  had  by  no  means  lost 
track  of  him.  Mr.  Aston  regarded  him  as  a 
sort  of  protege  of  his  ;  and  during  his  course  at 
Annapolis  he  had  written  him  a  number  of  warm 
letters.  Singularly  enough,  Joe  had  not  seen  any 
member  of  the  family  since  his  first  and  only  visit 
to  Portland.  Most  of  the  time  Katie  had  been 
away  at  school  or  abroad  with  her  mother,  and  Mr. 
Aston,  as  he  expressed  it,  had  led  a  Bedouin 
life.  Whenever  the  Constellation,  on  her  practice 
cruises,  had  touched  at  Portland,  Joe  had  gone 
round  to  Mr.  Aston's  house,  only  to  find  the  in- 
mates gone  and  the  house  closed  for  the  season. 
But  he  had  kept  up  a  pretty  regular  correspond- 
ence with  his  friends,  the  time  devoted  to  it  being 
generally  a  theft  from  his  well-earned  periods  of 
recreation.  Katie  had  just  graduated,  as  well  as 
Joe.  She  was  just  as  much  delighted  over  the 
fact  that  she  was  no  longer  a  schoolgirl  as  was  he 
that  he  was  no  longer  an  Annapolis  cadet. 

Katie's  school   education  now  being  completed, 
the  Astons'    hospitable    mansion   was    once    more 
17 


1 8    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

thrown  open,  and  the  family  life  resumed.  Know- 
ing that  Joe  would  be  granted  a  short  leave  of 
absence,  and  feeling  that  it  would  be  pleasant  to 
renew  the  former  friendship,  just  previous  to  the 
closing  exercises  at  the  Academy,  Mr.  Aston  sent 
him  a  cordial  invitation  to  stop  over  on  his  way 
home,  and  spend  a  few  days  with  them  in  Port- 
land. 

Joe  started  on  his  journey  East  in  a  state  of 
great  indecision.  For  a  long  time  he  debated 
with  himself  whether  it  would  not  be  better  to 
defer  his  promised  visit  until  on  his  return  from 
his  own  home  with  orders  to  join  some  ship.  Was 
it  the  fear  that  his  orders,  when  they  came,  might 
oblige  him  to  report  without  delay,  or  the  old-time 
diffidence,  which,  notwithstanding  his  brave  de- 
meanor, still  clung  to  him,  that  occasioned  this 
vacillation  ?  Whichever  it  might  be,  after  much 
backing  and  filling,  just  before  the  arrival  of  the 
train  at  Boston,  Joe's  decision  was  reached.  He 
would  stop  off  at  Portland. 

Having  a  few  hours  to  himself  in  Boston,  he 
spent  them  in  getting  a  new  outfit.  He  was 
about  to  embark  upon  a  new  life,  and  so  far  as  his 
military  equipment  was  concerned,  he  desired  to 
take  a  brand-new  start.  A  sword  was  the  first 
thing  he  bought ;  and  it  was  the  best  one  he 
could  find  in  the  city.  As  he  saw  it  doubled  up 
and  almost  tied  into  a  knot,  he  felt  assured  that  it 


JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER.     1 9 

would  not  break  even  if  he  should  ever  have  occa- 
sion to  use  it  in  battle. 

Joe  was  not  anticipating  war.  But  war  is  what 
swords  are  made  for,  he  reasoned,  so  why  not 
select  as  good  an  one  as  he  would  have  done  had 
the  country  been  under  arms  ?  A  fashionable 
tailor  assured  him  that,  so  far  as  uniform  was  con- 
cerned, he  could  give  him  a  perfect  military  set- 
ting off.  He  claimed  to  have  done  so  by  hundreds 
of  Army  and  Navy  officers,  and  it  would  be  simply 
impossible  for  him  to  fail  in  his  case.  Gold  foul 
anchors  for  his  Service  coat,  the  daintiest  threads 
of  gold  lace,  with  gold  stars,  to  be  worn  on  the 
sleeves  of  his  full  dress  coat,  shoulder  knots  to 
decorate  the  shoulders  of  the  same,  any  number 
of  brass  buttons,  a  cap,  and,  last  of  all,  a  binocu- 
lar glass  and  a  sextant  completed  his  purchases  at 
the  shops  and  stores. 

Arriving  at  Portland,  Joe  was  in  no  particular 
haste  to  leave  the  train.  In  fact,  he  was  so  dila- 
tory that  he  was  the  last  passenger  to  get  out  of 
the  car.  How  delighted  he  would  have  been 
could  another  half-hour  have  been  added  to  the 
journey.  How  easy  it  would  then  be,  he  thought, 
to  collect  himself,  and  prepare  for  his  ordeal. 
But  who  has  a  better  right  to  be  bashful  than  a 
cadet,  especially  when,  as  in  Joe's  case,  he  cannot 
help  it  ?  In  many  respects  it  is  his  constitutional 
privilege ;     nor   can    the    Government,   which    can 


20    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

order  him  to  be  brave,  with  all  its  might  of  au- 
thority, order  him  likewise  not  to  be  bashful. 
Diffidence,  however,  is  so  seldom  encountered  in 
those  just  graduated  from  civil  and  military  insti- 
tutions, that  we  shall  be  obliged  to  pardon  Joe  for 
not  rushing  into  Mr.  Aston's  arms,  when  finally  he 
descried  that  gentleman  waiting  for  him  on  the 
platform.  Joe  had  telegraphed  from  Boston  that 
he  was  en  route  —  a  piece  of  presumption  he  never 
would  have  been  guilty  of,  had  not  Mr.  Aston,  as 
it  were,  commanded  it. 

Joe  caught  sight  of  Mr.  Aston  first.  There  he 
stood,  scanning  the  passengers  as  if  he  feared  our 
hero  had  grown  out  of  his  remembrance,  and 
might  pass  unobserved.  As  it  was  he  was  taken 
by  surprise.  Joe  stood  beside  him  a  full  quarter 
of  a  minute,  Mr.  Aston  having  meanwhile  turned 
to  shake  hands  with  a  friend,  before  he  was  recog- 
nized. Then  Mr.  Aston  seemed  a  little  in  doubt 
as  to  whether  it  were  really  Joe,  after  all.  But 
presently,  being  convinced  that  it  was  the  young 
man  of  whom  he  was  in  search,  Joe  found  his 
hand  in  the  most  vise-like  grip  it  had  encountered 
for  years. 

"I  was  afraid,"  he  began,  in  the  same  old 
cheery  voice,  "  that  you  were  going  to  give  us  the 
slip,  after  all.  Why,"  he  continued,  "how  you've 
grown!"  And  he  gave  Joe  a  smart  turn  round. 
"Tar  all  gone,  too,  and  gait  as  steady  as  a  canal 


JOE    IS    INTRODUCED    TO    MRS.    PEPPER.  21 

boat.  Well,  well !  there's  nothing  like  putting  a 
boy  on  the  outside  of  himself.  I  like  you 
Annapolis  fellows  and  West  Pointers  when  you're 
not  spoiled,  and  I  guess  you're  not." 

Joe  tried  to  get  a  word  in  edgewise  as  they 
came  out  of  the  depot  in  sight  of  the  hack  stand. 
But  here,  while  he  was  endeavoring  to  insert  the 
smallest  wedge  of  a  remark,  Mr.  Aston  fairly 
startled  him  by  calling  out,  "John,  John,  don't  let 
that  fellow  take  your  hub  off." 

Joe  glanced  in  the  direction  of  Mr.  Aston's 
coachman,  and  saw  that  humble  official  doing  his 
utmost  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  a  heavy  wagon 
that  was  coming  down  upon  him  at  a  lively  pace. 
The  horses  attached  to  it  were  badly  frightened, 
and  their  driver  had  well-nigh  lost  control  of 
them.  Presently,  in  spite  of  John's  skilful  ma- 
noeuvres, the  vehicles  crashed  into  each  other, 
greatly  to  the  disfigurement  of  Mr.  Aston's  hand- 
some carriage. 

"No  fault  of  yours,  John;  no  fault  of  yours," 
Mr.  Aston  said  kindly,  stooping  to  examine  the 
abraided  wheels. 

John,  who,  before  entering  Mr.  Aston's  service, 
had  not  been  used  to  such  consideration,  touched 
his  hat,  and  Joe  saw  an  expression  of  deep  grati- 
tude in  his  eyes.  "Wonder  if  I'll  get  out  of  my 
first  scrape  on  board  ship  as  easily  as  that,"  he 
said  to   himself.     And   then  he  reflected   that   it 


22    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

would  depend  very  much  on  the  nature  of  the 
scrape,  as  well  as  upon  that  of  the  captain. 

Mr.  Aston's  cordial  greeting  and  the  accident 
to  the  carriage  served  Joe  an  excellent  turn.  By 
the  time  he  was  fairly  seated  his  embarrassment 
had  well-nigh  left  him.  On  the  drive  from  the 
depot  Mr.  Aston  kept  up  a  running  fire  of  ques- 
tions, most  of  which  he  himself  answered,  greatly 
to  his  young  guest's  amusement.  It  was  not  long 
before  Joe  caught  sight  of  the  old  owls,  and  just 
beyond,  the  mansion  hove  in  view.  His  next  dis- 
covery was  Mrs.  Aston  and  Katie  sitting  out  on 
the  veranda.  Joe  had  a  good  look  at  them  before 
they  saw  him.  A  glance  showed  him  that  Mrs. 
Aston  had  changed  but  little.  She  was  the  same 
quiet,  dignified  lady  he  used  to  know.  But  Katie 
—  what  should  he  say  of  her!  The  bright,  pretty 
schoolgirl  of  former  years  was  hardly  recognizable 
in  the  young  lady  now  before  him. 

Joe  blushed  crimson  as  he  alighted  from  the 
carriage,  and  Mrs.  Aston  and  Katie  came  forward 
to  greet  him.  But  the  warm  welcome  they  ex- 
tended put  him  quite  at  his  ease. 

"It's  a  very  long  time  since  we  last  saw  you," 
said  Mrs.  Aston.  "  How  you  have  changed.  I 
never  should  have  suspected  it." 

"  Oh  !  I  don't  think  he  has  changed  so  very 
much,  mamma,"  said  Katie,  regarding  Joe's  fine 
physique  with  a  quick  glance.  "Only  he  isn't  a 
boy  any  longer." 


JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER.    23 

Joe  thought  from  the  mischievous  look  which 
she  gave  him  that  she  was  inclined  to  rally  him  a 
little  on  his  old-time  awkwardness,  but  a  glance 
from  Mrs.  Aston  deterred  her. 

While  Mrs.  Aston  and  Katie  commented  on  the 
changes  which  the  last  few  years  had  wrought  in 
all  of  them,  Joe  took  occasion  to  further  note  some 
of  the  changes  which  Katie  had  undergone.  As 
already  intimated,  she  had  grown  to  be  a  remarka- 
bly pretty  girl.  The  expression  of  her  face  was 
very  sweet.  She  was  of  medium  height,  of  rather 
slight  figure,  and  was  possessed  of  that  charm  of 
manner  which  is  the  outcome  of  good  breeding 
and  education.  She  was  evidently  no  hot-house 
plant,  but  a  girl  of  the  air  and  the  sunshine, 
browned  and  hardened  by  frequent  sojourns  in  the 
mountains  and  at  the  seashore.  The  same  old 
look  of  mischief  that  used  to  shoot  terror  through 
Joe's  soul  still  sparkled  in  her  bright  eyes. 

Most  of  the  talking  was  done  by  Mrs.  Aston 
and  Katie.  The  hard  work  of  winning  a  commis- 
sion in  the  Navy  had  left  Joe  little  time  for  the 
enjoyment  of  ladies'  society.  His  taciturnity, 
therefore,  on  this  occasion,  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at.  But  little  by  little  they  drew  him  out.  It 
was  not  long  before  he  gave  them  some  fresh  and 
lively  details  of  his  life  at  Annapolis.  In  fact,  his 
sudden  verbal  facility  surprised  him  so  much  that 
he  feared  he  was  monopolizing  the  conversation. 


24    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

"O,  Mr.  Bently !  "  said  Katie,  springing  impul- 
sively from  her  chair,  "are  you  fond  of  riding  ?  " 

Joe  acknowledged  that  he  was,  but  secretly 
wished  that  Katie  would  not  address  him  as  Mr. 
Bently. 

"Papa,"  she  went  on,  "has  just  bought  me 
such  a  lovely  horse.  Let's  go  out  and  see  him  ! " 
And  she  led  Joe  a  brisk  chase  over  the  gravelled 
driveway  to  the  stable.  "John,  John,"  she  called, 
"bring  out  Forrest." 

A  beautiful  young  horse  was  led  out  for  Joe's 
inspection. 

"Wasn't  it  kind  in  papa,"  she  went  on,  "to 
make  me  such  a  present  ?  " 

To  this  Joe  likewise  assented. 

"  I  haven't  tried  him  yet,"  she  continued. 
"He's  only  been  here  two  days.  I  was  going  to 
send  round  after  Ned  Brentford  to  go  out  with  me 
to-morrow,  but  it  won't  be  necessary  now." 

"  Who  is  Ned  Brentford  ? "  Joe  said  to  himself. 

"  We'll  give  him  a  run  to  Gorham.  There's  a 
good  road  out  there.  Don't  you  think  Forrest  is 
a  pretty  name,  Mr.  Bently  ?  Oh !  he's  perfectly 
kind,"  she  went  on,  as  Joe  ventured  to  suggest 
that  she  had  better  be  a  little  more  careful  in 
going  around  him.  "  See  how  fond  he  is  of  me 
already." 

Joe  easily  comprehended  how  this  could  be. 
The   horse   rubbed    her  arm    caressingly  with  his 


JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER.    2$ 

nose,  and  presently  began  rubbing  very  hard. 
"  No,  no,  sir,  I  haven't  any  sugar.  I  always  give 
him  sugar,  you  know,"  she  added,  laughing,  as 
Joe  put  out  his  hand  to  prevent  her  being  pushed 
over.      "John,  can't  you  get  me  a  lump?" 

So  John  brought  sugar  from  the  stable  where  it 
was  daily  served  out  as  a  kind  of  ration  to  the 
horse,  and  Forrest  was  pacified.  Meanwhile  Joe 
had  caught  somewhat  of  Katie's  enthusiasm,  and 
he  praised  Mr.  Aston's  gift  with  all  the  fine  epi- 
thets usually  applied  to  such  noble  specimens  as 
Forrest. 

"You  see,"  pursued  Katie,  "between  him  and 
the  Celeste  I  am  anticipating  a  pretty  good  time 
this  summer.  This  is  the  Celeste's  first  season, 
you  know,  as  well  as  Forrest's  and  mine." 

Joe  ventured  to  ask  who  or  what  the  Celeste 
was. 

"Why,  haven't  you  heard  of  the  Celeste  ?  An 
account  of  her  has  been  in  all  the  papers.  She's 
papa's  new  yacht.  She's  a  perfect  beauty,  isn't 
she,  Forrest  ?  "  Katie  fell  to  caressing  the  horse 
again.  "John,"  she  concluded,  as  they  left  the 
stable,  "  see  that  Topham  is  all  ready  for  Mr. 
Bently  in  the  morning.  We're  going  to  try 
Forrest." 

Katie  still  continued  to  address  him  as  Mr. 
Bently  To  Joe's  ear  this  formality  had  an  alto- 
gether unnatural  sound.      In  her  occasional  letters 


26    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

she  had  always  called  him  Joe,  and  he  saw  no  rea- 
son why  she  should  not  do  so  now.  At  last,  with 
some  hesitation,  he  asked  her  if  she  would  not  as 
lief  call  him  Joe  as  she  always  had  done,  and,  he 
added,  "Won't  you  permit  me  to  call  you 
Katie  ? " 

Katie  was  not  a  little  amused  at  his  red  face 
and  earnest  manner.  "  I  shall  be  glad  to  have 
you  do  so,"  she  said,  graciously  ;  "  but  I  thought 
naval  cadets  were  so  dignified,  you  know." 

However,  she  immediately  addressed  him  as 
Joe,  at  which  they  both  laughed  heartily.  Joe  at 
once  returned  the  compliment,  awkwardly  enough 
it  seemed  to  him.  But  he  felt,  as  the  conversa 
tion  went  on  with  less  constraint,  on  his  part  at 
least,  that  the  ice  was  broken,  and  they  were 
again  the  boy  and  girl. 

Meanwhile  they  continued  to  walk  about  the 
grounds.  Katie  gave  him  a  description  of  every- 
thing they  saw,  from  the  noble  old  trees,  many  of 
which  had  stood  there  since  Colonial  times,  to  the 
owls  on  the  gateway,  soon  to  be  illuminated  with 
the  electric  light.  Finally  they  reached  the 
veranda.  As  Katie  left  him  to  prepare  for  din- 
ner, he  thought  her  by  far  the  most  delightful  lit- 
tle companion  he  had  ever  known. 

When  Joe  came  down  to  dinner  he  found  the 
family  waiting  for  him  out  on  the  veranda.  There 
was  a  lady  present  whom   he  had  not  previously 


JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER.     2J 

seen —  a  Mrs.  Pepper  from  Providence;  and  he 
was  at  once  introduced.  Ungenerous  or  unjust 
sentiments  were  wont  to  receive  no  indulgence  in 
his  breast  ;  but  something  about  this  woman 
made  him  think  that  in  her  case  the  right  name 
and  nature  had  combined.  It  struck  him  that  a 
very  little  of  her  would  go  a  long  way. 

It  fell  to  his  lot  to  be  her  escort  to  the  dining 
hall,  and  to  entertain  her  at  dinner  ;  by  no  means 
an  agreeable  task.  She  was  very  curious  to  know 
all  about  the  Navy,  and  plied  Joe  with  every  sort 
of  question.  She  asked  him  if  the  officers  did  not 
all  drink  and  gamble  ;  and  remarked  that  she  had 
heard  strange  stories  even  about  the  chaplains. 
The  most  singular  thing  about  her  was,  that  when 
he  attempted  to  set  matters  right  she  would  not 
listen  to  him,  but  would  keep  right  on  asking 
questions  more  absurd  than  ever.  Finally  she 
said,  "  What  do  naval  officers  have  to  do,  anyway  ? 
I  never  could  see  that  they  have  a  thing  to  do." 

Without  trying  to  enlighten  her  this  time,  Joe 
thought  if  she  had  phrased  it,  "  What  do  not  naval 
officers  have  to  do,"  she  would  have  hit  about  the 
truth  of  it. 

"Do,"  said  Mr.  Aston,  "it's  a  very  hard  life; 
full  of  sacrifices  and  dangers,  as  well  as  endless 
fussiness  and  work.  I  should  not  care  to  have  a 
boy  of  mine  enter  the  Navy." 

"Why,  papa?"   asked  Katie. 


28    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

"  Because  in  time  of  peace  there's  no  career  fot- 
a  naval  officer ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  hardships  he 
has  to  undergo." 

"No  career!"  exclaimed  Katie.  "You  forget 
that  they  all  get  promoted  to  be  admirals  and 
commodores.  They  wear  such  handsome  uni- 
forms, too ;  and  command  squadrons  and  ships. 
I'm  sure  I  hope  Joe  won't  think  of  leaving  the 
Navy." 

Everybody  laughed  at  Katie's  queer  compen- 
dium of  a  naval  officer's  preferments. 

"There  it  is,"  said  Mr.  Aston.  "It's  brass 
buttons,  after  all.  Brass  goes  for  a  good  deal 
more  than  gold  in  this  country.  But,  Katie  dear, 
you're  a  little  mixed  on  the  order  of  promotion 
and  the  precedence  of  command.  It's  a  commo- 
dore and  an  admiral,  a  ship  and  a  squadron." 

"Oh!  well,"  laughed  Katie,  "I  got  it  all  in. 
I  never  could  understand  it." 

"As  for  leaving  the  Navy,"  remarked  Joe, 
"  I'm  hardly  in  it  yet.  I  have  to  serve  two  years 
afloat  before  I  can  get  my  first  commission ;  if  I 
do  not  fail  even  then.  Besides,  I  owe  the  Gov- 
ernment a  good  deal  for  my  education." 

"That's  high  moral  ground,"  said  Mr.  Aston. 
"You  might  wait  until  you  get  your  commission. 
Then,  if  there  should  ever  happen  to  be  a  war, 
which  is  altogether  unlikely,  you  could  go  back 
again." 


JOE    IS    INTRODUCED    TO    MRS.     PEPPER.  29 

"  Yes ;  I  hope  you  will  leave  the  Navy  and 
study  law.  It's  no  place  for  a  young  man,"  inter- 
jected Mrs.  Pepper. 

Mrs.  Aston  and  Katie  protested  against  any 
such  idea.  They  did  not  see  how  a  young  man 
could  aspire  to  anything  higher  than  a  commission 
in  the  Army  or  Navy.  And,  furthermore,  they 
thought  it  altogether  too  bad  for  Mr.  Aston  and 
Mrs.  Pepper  to  throw  cold  water  on  such  a  lauda- 
ble ambition. 

Joe  felt  very  grateful  for  their  warm  defense  of 
a  naval  career,  while  Mr.  Aston  exploded  with 
merriment  over  their  sharp  arraignment  of  him. 
Joe  could  see  that,  although  Katie  was  the  apple 
of  her  father's  eye,  he  delighted  in  teasing  her. 
He  also  detected  that  a  good  deal  of  Mr.  Aston's 
opposition  to  the  Navy  was  simulated. 

"  What  has  become  of  that  dear  old  sailor  you 
used  to  write  about,  Mr.  Bently — Joe,  I  mean?" 
suddenly  propounded  Katie. 

"Oh!  you  mean  old  Dicky  Dawson." 

"  Yes,  Dicky  Dawson.  Do  you  think  you  will 
ever  see  him  again  ?  " 

"  I  expect,  sometime,  to  be  shipmate  with  him 
again.  The  Navy  is  a  small  place,  you  know.  I 
may  find  him  on  my  first  ship." 

"That  would  be  splendid.  But  where  did  you 
last  hear  from  him  ?  " 

"  In  the  hospital  at  Ville  Franc Jie,  all  battered  up." 


30    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

"  Another  case  of  saloon  frescoing?"  observed 
Mr.  Aston,  smiling  at  Katie's  interest  in  the  old 
sailor. 

"  Papa,  you  mustn't  talk  so  about  Dicky  Daw- 
son. Didn't  he  save  Joe  from  the  bashi-bazouks  ? 
I  wish  we  could  have  him  on  the  Celeste.  Old 
sailors  are  so  quaint  and  full  of  yarns." 

"Yes,  and  of  something  else,  too,"  laughed  Mr. 
Aston,  bent  on  teasing  Katie. 

"  Papa,  I  think  you're  too  bad.  You  haven't 
said  a  nice  thing  about  the  Navy,"  pouted  Katie. 
"  If  you  don't  like  it,  what  made  you  encourage 
Joe  to  go  to  the  Academy  ? " 

"  I  beg  a  thousand  pardons,"  said  Mr.  Aston, 
with  mock  humility,  "  I  hope  I've  given  no 
offense." 

A  sly  twinkle  in  his  eye  led  Joe  to  believe  that 
Mr.  Aston  was  trying  to  make  it  easy  for  Mrs. 
Pepper,  toward  whom  Mrs.  Aston  and  Katie  had 
developed  a  very  strong  opposition.  This  lady 
was  a  distant  relative  of  Mr.  Aston's,  and  it 
began  to  look  to  Joe  as  if  her  visits  were  re- 
garded, by  the  feminine  portion  of  the  family  at 
least,  as  in  the  nature  of  an  adversity.  But  Mrs. 
Pepper  seemed  to  improve  a  little  as  the  dinner 
progressed.  Her  opinions,  Joe  discovered,  were 
apt  to  vary  with  her  impulses.  He  saw  that  she 
was  inclined  to  be  affable  or  acidulous,  according 
as    people    agreed    with    or     opposed     her.       He 


JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER.    3 1 

thought  she  dwelt  a  little  too  long  on  Roger  Wil- 
liams, What  Cheer,  and  other  things  peculiar  to 
Providence  ;  but  Joe  was  rather  fond  of  the  local 
history  of  that  city  himself.  Yet  he  was  forced 
to  admit  to  himself  that  in  not  a  few  ways  Mrs. 
Pepper  was  the  strangest  lady  he  had  ever  met. 

Finally,  as  they  left  the  table,  Katie  exclaimed, 
"  Papa,  please  don't  use  Topham  to-morrow  !  Joe 
and  I  are  going  to  give  Forrest  a  run.  Don't 
say,  No,"  thinking  she  discovered  a  negative 
expression  on  her  father's  face. 

Mr.  Aston  did  not  say  No.  He  seldom  did 
to  Katie.  But  looking  askance  at  Joe,  Mrs.  Pep- 
per remarked,  "Why,  Franklin,  I  shouldn't  think 
you  would  permit  a  young  girl  like  Katie  to  be 
the  first  to  ride  a  strange  horse." 

"  I  don't  think  there  is  any  occasion  for  alarm," 
returned  Mr.  Aston  very  pleasantly.  "  John  will 
go  as  groom,  and  if  Forrest  should  cut  up,  Mr. 
Bently  can  shift  saddles.  Topham  is  as  steady  as 
a  centre-board  yacht.  I  think  I  can  trust  her," 
he  concluded,  looking  fondly  at  Katie. 

As  Mrs.  Pepper  has  somewhat  to  do  with  the 
happiness  of  two  of  the  young  people  at  least,  of 
this  story,  a  word  further  concerning  her  may  not 
be  out  of  place.  She  is  a  lady  of  some  means. 
Her  home  is  in  the  shadow  of  Brown  University, 
in  Providence.  She  has  nothing  to  do  in  the 
world  but  seek  her  own  happiness,  and  minister 


32    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

to  the  happiness  of  people  around  her.  From 
what  has  already  been  said  of  her  it  would  seem, 
if  the  happiness  of  people  around  her  is  her  chief 
aim  in  life,  that  desire  and  tact  in  her  case  are 
wholly  at  variance. 

She  is  very  much  attached  to  the  Astons,  and 
pays  them  long  visits  whenever  she  takes  it  into 
her  head  to  do  so.  She  is  interested  in  all  their 
affairs,  speaks  her  mind  freely  to  them  on  all  sorts 
of  subjects  —  in  short,  makes  herself  one  of  the 
family.  She  prides  herself  on  the  keenness  of 
her  perceptive  faculties,  and  thinks  herself  unusu- 
ally sharp  and  clever. 

Having  heard  a  great  deal  first  and  last  about 
Joe  Bently,  through  him  chiefly  her  attention  had 
been  called  to  naval  subjects.  For  some  time 
Mrs.  Pepper  had  cherished  a  certain  notion,  and 
the  moment  her  eyes  fell  upon  this  handsome, 
manly  cadet,  it  suddenly  became  a  positive  and 
alarming  conviction.  But  we  will  allow  her  to 
speak  for  herself  at  all  proper  times  and  places ; 
or  find  some  spokesman  for  her,  who,  we  trust, 
will  do  her  no  great  injustice.  It  would  have 
been  a  pleasure  not  to  have  introduced  Mrs.  Pep- 
per to  the  reader ;  but  then  Joe's  story  could  have 
been  only  half  told  without  it,  and  that  would  have 
made  it  too  much  like  a  biography. 

How  could  Joe  long  remember  Mrs.  Pepper's 
caustic  remarks  and  sour  looks  in  the  society  of 


JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER.    $$ 

such  a  girl  as  Katie  Aston  ?  And  notwithstand- 
ing that  lady  gave  him  a  most  unfriendly  look  as 
he  and  Katie  rode  away  next  morning,  it  was  in- 
stantly forgotten.  To  tell  the  truth,  she  had  had 
quite  a  depressing  effect  upon  Joe.  But  once 
upon  the  road  his  old  buoyancy  of  spirits  returned. 

How  fresh  and  sweet  his  young  companion 
looked  under  the  touch  of  the  crisp,  cool  breeze 
coming  out  of  the  northwest !  How  really  beauti- 
ful she  seemed  in  the  glorious  sunshine  ! 

Joe  was  quite  as  much  at  home  in  the  saddle  as 
in  a  ship's  top.  They  had  gone  but  a  little  dis- 
tance before  he  became  impatient  to  "crack  on," 
as  sailors  say,  to  see  how  much  speed  Tophan* 
could  carry,  but  regard  for  Katie's  safety  with  her 
new  horse  restrained  him.  A  word  of  caution  to 
his  young  mistress  from  John,  who  was  following 
pretty  closely,  also  had  due  weight  with  him. 
Katie,  on  her  part,  knew  very  well  what  was  la  his 
mind ;  but  she  had  no  intention  of  keeping  For- 
rest down.  They  had  hardly  left  the  city  before 
they  came  to  a  long  even  stretch  of  wood.  For- 
rest seemed  to  sniff  in  from  the  very  air  his 
young  mistress'  purpose.  His  whole  frame 
quivered  beneath  the  first  gentle  indications  that 
his  speed  was  to  be  tested. 

At  a  point  fixed  in  her  own  mind,  to  Joe's  sur- 
prise and  the  groom's  consternation,  she  fearlessly 
gave  rein  to  the  excited  horse.     He  was  off  like 


34    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

the  wind,  but  as  true  and  even  in  his  movement 
as  a  bird.  Topham  sprang  forward  to  the  con- 
test. For  a  moment  it  was  neck  and  neck 
between  the  two  horses,  then  Joe  was  gradually 
distanced,  till  far  in  advance,  the  clever  little 
horsewoman  drew  up  at  an  improvised  reaching 
post,  and  turned,  laughing  at  her  escort's  discom- 
fiture. Presently  John  came  tearing  down  upon 
them,  looking  quite  frightened.  "Ye  oughtn't  to 
do  so,  Miss ;  indeed  ye  oughtn't !  "  he  exclaimed. 
"I  had  strict  orders  not  to  let  you  do  so." 

"Who  gave  you  such  orders  ?  "  asked  Katie. 

"Yer  Aunt  Pepper,  Miss."  (Katie  always 
addressed  Mrs.  Pepper  as  Aunt  or  Auntie,  al- 
though the  relationship  was  distant  and  vague.) 

"Oh!"  laughed  Katie.  "But  why  don't  you 
admire  Forrest  ?  "  she  went  on.  "  Didn't  he  do 
nobly  ?  "  And  she  leaned  forward  and  patted  the 
horse's  handsome  neck  in  gentlest  approval. 

Joe's  thoughts  were  not  upon  the  beautiful 
animal  Katie  rode,  but  upon  the  gentle  rider.  If, 
just  then,  he  had  appraised  her  as  the  most  beauti- 
ful girl  the  sun  ever  shone  upon,  it  would  have 
been  no  wonder.  Her  rich  brown  hair  had  been 
daintily  gathered  about  her  pretty  forehead,  into 
what  her  young  lady  friends  called  "the  sweetest 
little  puffs  in  the  world  " ;  her  eyes  sparkled  with 
excitement,  and  her  cheeks  glowed  with  the 
bright  color  and  perfect  health  of  youth.     As  she 


;0E    IS    INTRODUCED    TO    MRS.    PEPPER.  35 

sat  her  horse,  the  embodiment  of  maidenly  dignity 
and  grace,  Joe  thought  he  had  never  before  seen 
such  a  picture. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  his  admiration  was  qf 
an  aesthetic,  rather  than  a  sentimental  nature. 
And  how  strange  it  was  that  in  nearly  all  his 
mental  processes  everything  should  be  referred  to 
a  ship !  Even  now,  as  he  looked  at  Katie,  th^ 
vision  of  a  ship  came  into  his  mind.  He  had 
read  on  the  train  that  the  most  harmonious  thing 
in  nature  is  a  ship  under  full  sail,  and  he  was  now 
debating  with  himself  whether  a  beautiful  girl  on 
a  beautiful  horse  be  not  a  more  harmonious  ad- 
justment of  things.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that 
the  result  was  in  Katie's  favor. 

Quite  an  important  feature  in  Joe's  visit  was 
his  meeting  with  Ned  Brentford,  the  young  gen- 
tleman whose  place  he  had  taken  on  the  ride. 
Young  Brentford  called  several  times  during  Joe's 
stay.  Mr.  Aston  introduced  him  as  "The  scion 
of  an  old  Portland  family."  He  was  very  fond  of 
referring  to  Ned  in  this  manner ;  for  there  were 
certain  aristocratic  notions  he  was  known  to  cher- 
ish respecting  his  ancestry.  Brentford  was  Joe's 
senior  by  two  years.  He  was  a  very  agreeable, 
fine-appearing  young  fellow,  and  a  great  favorite 
with  the  Astons.  Even  Mrs.  Pepper,  who  had 
tried  by  every  possible  means  to  make  Joe  uncom- 
fortable, bestowed  only  smiles  and   flattery  upon 


36    JOE  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  MRS.  PEPPER. 

Ned.  Had  Joe  been  less  high-minded,  he  might 
have  cherished  only  envy  toward  this  young  man 
who  filled  such  a  large  place  in  the  good  graces  of 
his  friends.  But  instead,  his  own  esteem  and 
friendship  were  freely  given  him,  and  by  the  time 
he  was  ready  to  take  his  leave  Joe  and  Brentford 
had  become  fast  friends. 

The  end  of  Joe's  visit  came  all  too  quickly. 
Ned  and  Katie  accompanied  him  to  the  depot. 
As  he  bade  them  farewell,  Katie  playfully  re- 
marked, "  Don't  let  me  see  you  again,  sir,  until 
you  have  distinguished  yourself."  Then,  stepping 
forward  with  him  to  the  car  platform,  she  added, 
"  I  hope  you  won't  be  discouraged  by  what  papa 
and  Aunt  Pepper  said  about  the  Navy.  I'm  sure 
papa  was  only  in  jest,"  and  with  another  good-by 
the  train  was  off. 


CHAPTER    III. 


HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS. 


IN  one  respect  Joe  had  been  disappointed  with 
his  visit.  He  could  not  understand  why  Mr. 
Aston  should  be  so  opposed  to  his  remaining  in 
the  Navy.  But  this  is  easily  explained.  Quite 
recently  Mr.  Aston  had  become  a  member  in  a 
large  ship-building  company,  consequently  it  had 
occurred  to  him  that  a  fine  field  in  naval  architec- 
ture might  be  opened  to  Joe  in  their  service. 
Joe's  course  at  Annapolis,  he  thought,  would  be 
an  admirable  equipment  for  beginning  such  work ; 
and  in  a  few  years  he  might  thus  become  invalu- 
able to  the  company.  They  were  hopeful  of  se- 
curing contracts  from  the  Government  for  build- 
ing cruisers,  and  in  this  department  Joe's  talents 
and  knowledge  would  find  large  scope.  The  sal- 
ary, of  course,  would  be  much  larger  than  he 
would  receive  in  the  Navy  for  years. 

But  it  was  not  so  much  Joe's   interest   as   that 

of  the  company,    Mr.   Aston    was   looking  at ;  he 

regarded  Joe's  prospects  as  good  enough.      When, 

however,  the  matter  was  broached  to  Mrs.  Aston 

37 


38  HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS. 

and  Katie,  they  unitedly  and  peremptorily  op- 
posed it. 

"Papa,"  Katie  said,  "wants  Joe  to  be  nothing 
but  a  common  shipbuilder."  "His  whole  soul  is 
wrapped  up  in  the  Navy,"  Mrs.  Aston  remarked, 
"and  it  would  be  cruel  to  tempt  him  out  of  it." 
And  that  was  the  end  of  Mr.  Aston's  scheme. 

A  perfect  ovation  awaited  Joe  at  his  own 
home.  He  was  lionized  by  the  young  people  of 
his  own  age,  and  the  small  boys  spent  sleepless 
nights  in  thinking  about  what  he  told  them  of 
a  man-of-war.  He  was  greatly  amused  at  the  pre- 
vailing ideas  of  the  Navy.  "Where  is  the  Navy 
now  ? "  was  a  question  of  hourly  recurrence. 
One  old  man  asked  him  when  he  expected  to  be 
general  ;  another,  if  he  would  not  have  to  wait 
several  years  before  he  could  become  an  admiral. 
Scarcely  had  he  reached  his  father's  house  before 
a. neighbor,  who  was  present  at  the  family  jubilee, 
stepped  forward  and  asked,  "  How  much  be  you 
a  gettin'  now,  Joe?"  Poor  Joe  was  fairly  con- 
founded, however,  when  a  good  old  lady  inquired 
if  they  had  any  baptisms  and  class-meetings  in 
the  Navy. 

One  morning,  as  he  was  about  to  start  on  a 
grand  hunting  and  fishing  expedition,  gotten  up 
in  his  honor,  a  great  formidable  appearing  docu- 
ment was  put  in  Joe's  hand.  Hastily  breaking 
the  seal,  he  read : 


HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS.  39 

Bureau  of  Navigation,    Navy  Department, 
Washington,  D.  C,  June  25th,  iS— . 
Sir: 

Proceed  to  Newport,  R.  I.,  without  delay,  and  report  to  Com- 
mander W.  N.  Farradale  for  duty  on  board  the  United  States 
Steamer  Daybreak. 

Respectfully, 


Chief  of  Bureau. 


Naval  Cadet  Joe  Bently,  U.  S.  N., 


Aroostook  Co.,  Maine. 

Forty-eight  hours  after  the  receipt  of  this  digni- 
fied missive,  Joe  was  repeating  the  journey  so 
eventful  in  other  years,  on  his  way  to  join  his  new 
ship. 

During  the  twenty  minutes  of  waiting  at  the 
depot  in  Portland,  his  thoughts  were  with  his 
friends,  the  Astons.  He  would  have  liked  to  take 
a  run  across  the  city  to  pay  them  a  brief  call.  He 
wondered,  were  he  able  to  do  so,  whether  he 
would  again  encounter  Mrs.  Pepper.  Somehow, 
this  woman  had  been  very  obnoxious  to  Joe.  The 
impressions  she  had  left  upon  him  had  grown  into 
strange  distinctness.  The  frown  she  gave  him 
on  the  morning  of  his  ride  with  Katie,  the  little 
biting  sarcasms  of  her  speech,  her  evident  pleas- 
ure on  his  departure,  he  could  not  forget.  It  all 
came  to  mind  now  with  much  more  completeness 


40  HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS. 

of  detail  than  the  pleasant  things  of  his  visit,  as 
disagreeable  things  are  apt  to  do.  Joe  liked  to  be 
well  thought  of,  and  Mrs.  Pepper's  evident  hostil- 
ity to  him  gave  him  no  little  concern. 

His  eyes  meanwhile  kept  wandering  to  the  spot 
where  Katie  had  stood  the  week  before  when  she 
bade  him  farewell.  It  had  a  strange  fascination 
for  him.  He  began  recalling  the  incidents  of  his 
visit  with  which  Katie  was  more  particularly  con- 
nected. It  was  a  most  pleasant  mental  exercise. 
It  was  almost  like  passing  through  them  again. 
How  glad  he  was  that  he  was  permitted  to  regard 
such  a  sweet,  beautiful  girl  as  Katie  Aston,  as  his 
friend  !  And  as  the  train  resumed  its  journey, 
and  the  city  dropped  from  view,  his  heart  was  full 
of  warm,  chivalrous  impulses  toward  his  friends  ; 
but  he  did  not  realize  how  fast  one  of  the  little 
family  group  was  becoming  its  bright  particular 
star. 

At  Boston,  he  found  a  fine  new  uniform  waiting 
him,  and  next  morning,  in  prompt  obedience  to 
his  orders,  he  stood  upon  the  wharf  at  Newport, 
waiting  for  the  nine  o'clock  boat,  in  which  he  was 
to  take  passage  to  the  ship.  Harry  and  Swem, 
who  had  not  been  forgotten  by  the  commandant 
of  cadets,  were  with  him.  How  resplendent  they 
looked  in  their  handsome  uniforms,  their  bright 
new  swords  dangling  at  the  proper  angle  from 
their  sides.      They  might  be  pardoned  for  feeling 


HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS.  4 1 

a  little  "set  up"  over  their  fine  appearance.  This 
momentary  flush  of  self-consciousness,  however, 
was  doubtless  caused  by  the  admiring  glances  of  a 
group  of  very  young  ladies,  who  stood  upon  an- 
other part  of  the  wharf  waiting  to  go  on  board 
the  little  steamer  Eolus  for  a  trip  across  the  bay. 
Presently  the  boat  hove  in  view,  rounding  the 
lower  end  of  Goat  Island,  and  in  a  few  moments 
the  cadets,  under  the  smart  strokes  of  the  well- 
trained  crew,  were  placed  alongside  the  ship. 

A  fine  little  craft  was  the  United  States  ship 
Daybreak.  She  was  a  third-rate  steamer,  devia- 
ting from  vessels  of  her  class  in  the  Navy,  by 
belonging  to  a  more  modern  type.  She  was  the 
handsomest  ship  of  the  Navy.  With  her  yellow 
masts,  inclined  smoke-stack,  and  black,  freshly- 
painted  hull,  she  had  a  decidedly  rakish  appear- 
ance. "Saucy  enough  for  a  yacht,"  the  sailors 
used  to  say,  "but  light  material  for  a  man-of-war." 

The  Daybreak  was  bark-rigged,  had  quite  pow- 
erful engines,  made  commendable  speed  under 
steam  or  sail,  and  would  be,  in  time  of  war,  a  valu- 
able auxiliary  to  still  more  modern  and  formidable 
ships.  She  had  been  in  commission  about  a  year, 
and,  excepting  a  short  cruise  in  the  interest  of 
American  fishermen,  had  never  been  out  of  United 
States  waters.  She  was  now  lying  temporarily  at 
Newport,  waiting  orders  from  the  flagship  of  the 
North  Atlantic  Squadron. 


42  HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  cadets  mounted 
the  gangway  rather  tremulously,  and  the  rattling 
of  their  swords  as  they  stepped  over  the  side,  was 
quite  startling  to  them.  The  ordeal  through 
which  a  cadet  passes  on  presenting  himself  for 
his  first  duty  after  graduation,  if  not  fiery,  is  ex- 
ceedingly trying.  Life  on  board  ship  is  not  alto- 
gether new  to  him,  for  he  has  learned  something 
of  it  on  his  practice  cruises ;  but  he  has  entered  a 
new  realm  of  duty  and  responsibility.  So  he  is, 
of  course,  anxious  to  acquit  himself  worthily  in 
his  new  sphere,  and  it  is  with  no  little  dread  that 
he  reports  to  the  one  whose  judgment  is  to  largely 
determine  the  measure  of  his  success.  Therefore 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  Joe  and  his  com- 
rades felt  no  little  trepidation  as  they  stepped  for 
the  first  time  upon  the  Daybreak's  deck,  to  for- 
mally present  themselves  for  their  new  duty. 

Commander,  or  Captain  Farradale  —  the  title 
by  which  he  was  addressed  —  was  a  man  combin- 
ing in  himself  rare  qualities  of  mind  and  heart. 
As  a  commanding  officer,  he  had  attained  great 
popularity  in  the  Navy.  There  was  not  an  officer 
or  man  on  board  the  Daybreak  who  did  not  regard 
himself  as  extremely  fortunate  in  being  under  his 
command.  He  was  never  brusque,  never  out  of 
humor,  yet  everybody  was  on  the  alert  to  carry 
out  his  orders  and  wishes.  If  circumstances  re- 
quired it   he  could    be  severe,   but   circumstances 


HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS.  43 

seldom  required  it  on  board  the  Daybreak.  He 
knew  how  to  get  the  best  things  out  of  officers 
and  men  without  resorting  to  antique  naval  meth- 
ods. His  theory  was,  that  an  unhappy  ship,  an 
insubordinate  and  indolent  crew,  were  a  reproach 
to  the  commanding  officer ;  and  a  cleaner,  trim- 
mer ship  than  his,  a  better  drilled  crew,  or  a  more 
contented  ship's  company,  could  not  be  found  in 
any  navy. 

The  moment  the  cadets  stepped  over  the  cabin 
threshold,  they  recognized  at  a  glance  the  cap- 
tain's character.  Joe,  being  spokesman,  intro- 
duced the  trio,  and  explained  that  they  had  all 
been  ordered  to  the  Daybreak,  and  had  come  to 
report  to  him.  The  captain  gave  them  a  cordial 
greeting,  and  after  endorsing  their  orders,  told 
them  that  he  very  much  hoped  they  would  like 
the  ship.  He  said  that  so  far  as  he  was  able 
to  judge,  the  Daybreak  was  a  happy  ship;  and 
he  was  glad  to  say  that  everybody  seemed  to 
make  his  duties  more  a  matter  of  pleasure  and 
pride,  rather  than  a  task  and  a  bugbear.  Taking 
them  slightly  into  his  confidence,  he  remarked 
that  they  would  no  doubt  be  pleased  with  the 
cruise,  as  he  had  received  intimations  the  day 
before  that  it  would  be  very  desirable.  Then  he 
politely  dismissed  them,  saying  that  there  would 
be  no  duty  for  them  that  day,  and  they  could 
spend  it  in  getting  settled  in  their  new  quarters. 


44  HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS. 

"He's  a  trump!"  exclaimed  Harry  as  they 
reached  the  quarter  deck,  in  a  tone  sufficiently 
loud  to  be  heard  by  an  old  quartermaster  on  the 
poop,  who  chuckled  an  inaudible  response. 

The  cadets'  quarters  were  already  occupied  by 
an  ensign,  a  cadet  of  the  graduating  class  of  the 
year  before,  an  assistant  engineer,  an  assistant 
surgeon,  a  second  lieutenant  of  marines,  and  a 
pay-master's  clerk.  These  officers  constituted 
the  steerage  mess.  Each  member  of  the  mess 
happened  to  be  present  to  receive  the  cadets  as 
they  filed  down  the  starboard  '  steerage  ladder. 
The  ensign,  the  senior  in  rank,  acted  as  host  of 
the  occasion.  Giving  each  cadet  a  hearty  wel- 
come, he  introduced  the  other  members  of  the 
mess,  who  did  likewise.  In  his  impulsive  way 
Harry  whispered  to  Joe,  "I  call  this  an  A  I 
reception." 

Joe  quickly  ran  over  to  himself  the  names  that 
had  been  given  him.  He  rather  prided  himself 
on  his  ability  to  remember  names.  He  dis- 
covered that,  oddly  enough,  they  fell  into  allitera- 
tive couplets.  The  ensign  and  the  cadet  paired 
as  Arlington  and  Austy ;  the  assistant  surgeon 
and  second  lieutenant  of  marines,  as  Cardington 
and  Coverly  ;  while  the  assistant  engineer  and  the 
pay  clerk  rejoiced  in  the  cognomens  of  Henlington 
and  Hubbins. 

The  formalities  were  of  short  duration,  and  the 


HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS.  45 

cadets  began  the  business  of  getting  settled. 
The  steerage  proper  was  divided  into  two  com- 
partments, one  on  the  starboard  and  the  other  on 
the  port  side.  The  space  between,  a  portion  of 
the  berth  deck,  went  by  the  name  of  steerage 
country.  The  common  mess-table  was  in  the 
starboard  steerage.  With  this  exception,  how- 
ever, the  mess  was  divided  between  the  two  sides 
of  the  ship,  the  ensign  and  cadets  having  their 
quarters  on  the  starboard,  and  all  the  others  on 
the  port  side.  Both  steerages  were  very  small ; 
so  minified,  indeed,  that  the  table,  when  drawn 
out  to  its  fullest  length,  came  squarely  against  the 
lockers  at  one  end,  and  the  bulk-head  at  the 
other.  Whenever  they  might  desire  to  be  seated 
at  table,  as  a  whole,  they  could  only  do  so  by  sol- 
idly wedging  themselves  together,  suggesting  to 
Joe  a  table  of  a  country  hotel  during  a  convention. 

The  introductions  were  barely  over  when 
Schopy's  sad  eye  detected  at  a  glance  the  untold 
miseries  awaiting  him  in  such  contracted  quarters. 

"  I  didn't  know,"  he  remarked  with  a  very  lugu- 
brious accent,  "  that  I  was  going  to  be  ordered  to 
a  cattle  car." 

"  Oh !  you'll  get  used  to  it,"  said  the  young 
marine  officer,  laughing  at  Swem's  crest-fallen  as- 
pect.     "You'll  shrink  to  it,  like  the  rest  of  us." 

"It's  one  of  the  sweat-boxes  of  the  old  Navy," 
added  Hubbins,  the  pay  clerk. 


46  HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS. 

"You  mustn't  mind  our  old  Schopy,"  said 
Harry.  "He's  in  the  Navy  anyway  under  com- 
pulsion, and  gets  a  little  morbid  over  it." 

"It  will  either  kill  or  cure  him,"  said  Hubbins. 

"  Didn't  you  say  his  name  was  Swem  ? "  asked 
Arlington,  the  ensign,  aside,  of  Joe. 

"Oh!  Schopenhauer  is  only  a  nickname," 
laughed  Joe.  "  You  see,  he  looks  on  the  dark 
side  of  everything,  and  that's  how  it  got  fastened 
on  to  him." 

"  Wasn't  Schopenhauer  the  great  German  pessi- 
mist ?  "  inquired  Arlington,  the  name  having 
awakened  a  new  train  of  thought  in  his  mind. 

"I  think  I've  read  that  he  was,"  modestly  re- 
turned Joe. 

"  We're  sailors,  not  cow-boys,  Schopy,"  said 
Harry,  calling  Arlington's  and  Joe's  attention 
back  to  the  subject  under  discussion.  "We  can't 
expect  all  creation  inside  a  man-of-war." 

"The  quarters  are  a  little  snug,  that's  a  fact," 
observed  Arlington.  "  But  you'll  soon  get  accus- 
tomed to  them.  By  the  way,  I  presume  you 
would  like  to  get  your  traps  stowed  when  you're 
ready  ;  those  two  lockers,  to  port  there,  belong  to 
you.  You'll  have  to  sling  your  hammocks  in  the 
steerage  country —  unless  one  of  you  would  prefer 
to  sleep  in  here  on  the  table." 

Everybody  but  the  cadets  looked  amused  at 
this  suggestion. 


HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS.  47 

"You'd  better  speak  for  the  table,  Mr.  Swem," 
said  Coverly,  with  a  knowing  look.  "  I  use  the 
table  on  the  other  side  for  that  purpose,  and  it 
works  like  a  charm." 

"  I  don't  see  why  it  should  be  so  very  funny, 
sleeping  on  a  table,"  observed  Swem,  who  saw 
that  there  was  something  behind  Coverly' s  re- 
mark. "I  detest  a  hammock,  so  I'll  take  the 
table." 

"It's  a  little  awkward,  having  only  one  wash- 
basin and  looking-glass,"  resumed  Arlington. 
"We  have  to  wait  a  little,  mornings,  like  hanging 
round  a  ticket  office  ;  but  it  does  very  well." 

"  Yes,  lovely,"  interrupted  the  young  marine 
officer. 

"  We  flatter  ourselves  that  we  have  a  well-regu- 
lated mess,"  continued  the  ensign.  "We  find  it 
rather  annoying  to  have  so  many  things  in  com- 
mon. It  keeps  us  treading  on  one  another's  toes  ; 
and  of  course  we  have  our  little  jars  and  an 
occasional  set-to,  but  that's  a  mere  bagatelle." 

"A  mere  bagatelle,"  drawled  Coverly,  looking 
straight  at  the  assistant  engineer  and  the  pay- 
clerk,  who  colored  perceptibly. 

This  was  followed  all  round  by  considerable 
badinage  and  raillery.  The  day  before,  Hubbins 
and  Henlington  had  had  high  words  over  the  lava- 
tory, followed  by  a  genuine  steerage  racket.  The 
whole  mess,  including  several  wardroom  officers, 


48  HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS. 

had  been  present  as  spectators.  Any  allusion  to 
this  episode  was  painful  in  the  extreme  to  the 
combatants,  as  their  wounds,  neither  of  body  nor 
spirit,  had  yet  healed. 

While  the  chaffing  was  going  on,  Joe  bestowed 
his  first  thoughtful  attention  upon  his  own  mess- 
mates. On  the  whole,  he  was  rather  pleased  with 
them.  He  was  very  favorably  impressed  with 
Arlington,  the  ensign,  who  had  so  pleasantly 
expatiated  on  the  general  scantiness  of  the  steer- 
age quarters  and  the  mess-traps.  He  seemed  so 
full  of  good  nature,  and  so  inclined  to  apologize 
for  everything,  that  Joe  queried  a  little  whether 
he  could  be  ingenuous  in  it  all.  But  a  glance  at 
Arlington's  face  assured  him  that  he  was  the  soul 
of  sincerity  and  frankness.  He  was  caterer  of 
the  mess,  and  nothing  could  exceed  his  interest 
and  helpfulness  in  getting  the  new-comers  estab- 
lished. Austy,  the  cadet,  was  very  quiet,  and  had 
an  absorbed,  abstracted  look.  It  appeared  to  Joe 
as  if  he  were  all  the  time  wrestling  with  some 
difficult  problem  in  physics.  His  large  head  and 
slight  physique,  with  the  gold-bowed  glasses 
perched  upon  his  nose,  and  his  look  of  engross- 
ment, marked  him  in  Joe's  mind  as  very  much  of 
a  student.  A  sheet  of  paper  with  instruments 
alongside,  indicated  the  immediate  cause  of  his 
preoccupation. 

"  What  is  it  this  time,  Austy  ? "   inquired  Cov~ 


HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS.  49 

erly,  "a  gun-carriage,  a  car-coupler,  or  a  boot- 
buttoner  ? " 

Austy  answered  with  a  smile. 

"You  see,"  continued  Coverly,  "he  thinks  he's 
a  Watts  or  a  Robert  Fulton.  He'll  astonish  the 
world,  some  day,  with  his  inventions.  It's  mess- 
school  time,  anyway.  Little  Pills,  where  are  your 
Therapeutics  ? " 

The  assistant  surgeon  flushed  up  a  little  at  be- 
ing thus  addressed  before  the  cadets,  but  he  kept 
quiet.  He  was  very  young  for  the  position  he 
had  attained,  but  it  had  been  won  by  exceptional 
devotion  to  his  studies.  He  was  now  working 
night  and  day  for  his  second  examination,  at 
which  time  he  was  ambitious  of  making  several 
numbers  for  himself.  Joe  was  much  pleased  with 
his  quiet,  thoughtful  aspect,  and  his  polished  ad- 
dress and  manners.  Presently  this  youthful  doc- 
tor was  called  to  the  sick  bay. 

"I'd  like  to  show  you  something  on  the  other 
side,"  said  Coverly,  motioning  the  cadets  to  ac- 
company him  to  the  port  steerage.  "We  have  a 
few  mess  curios  over  there.  Hubbins  is  our  an- 
tique," he  added,  glancing  slyly  at  the  pay  clerk. 

Hubbins'  retort,  not  a  mild  one,  was  lost  on 
Coverly,  who  by  this  time  stood  in  the  doorway  of 
the  opposite  steerage.  For  the  first  time,  Joe 
took  special  notice  of  Hubbins.  He  saw  that  he 
was  a  long  way  past  middle  life.     His  hair  was 


5<3  HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS. 

nearly  all  gone,  the  few  remaining  spears  being 
about  as  thick  as  sprouting  oats,  and  under  the 
uncompromising  use  of  the  brush,  they  had  been 
trained  to  stand  up  as  straight  as  young  corn. 
Hubbins  had  been  in  the  Navy  so  long  that  the 
present  admiral  of  the  North  Atlantic  Squadron 
had  been  with  him  as  a  midshipman  on  his  first 
cruise. 

"That's  what  a  man  gets,  having  to  live  with 
boys  all  his  life,"  growled  Hubbins.  "I  might 
have  been  an  admiral  by  this  time,  if  I  hadn't 
been  a  fool." 

Before  Joe  could  learn  what  the  precise  act  of 
stultification  was  that  had  deprived  Hubbins  of  a 
commission  in  the  highest  grade  of  the  Navy, 
Coverly  was  all  ready  to  exhibit  the  mess  curios. 
"Boy,"  he  sung  out  to  the  colored  servant,  "open 
that  drawer." 

"De  doctor  tell  me  nebber  to  'low  no  one  to 
see  in  dat  drawer,  sir,"  replied  the  darky,  with  a 
frightened  look. 

"He  never  told  me  that.     Give  me  the  key." 

The  boy  unwillingly  surrendered  the  key  which 
the  doctor  had  entrusted  to  him. 

"Oh!  I  see,"  laughed  Harry.  "It's  a  skel- 
eton." 

"Yes,  a  skeleton,"  said  Hubbins.  "There's  al- 
together too  much  Egyptian  feast  business  in  this 
mess.     Just  look  in  that  drawer,  there." 


HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS.  5  I 

Joe  did  as  he  was  told.  He  saw  not  only  a 
skeleton,  but  some  half-dozen  skulls. 

"  I  don't  think  the  doctor  will  thank  us  for  this, 
Coverly,"  remarked  Austy. 

"  Thank  us,"  said  the  young  assistant  engineer, 
whose  dreams  were  often  disturbed  by  frightful 
visions  of  the  anatomical  cabinet,  "he  knows  if 
we  should  report  him,  his  beautiful  collection 
would  soon  be  dumped  on  the  beach." 

"You  see,"  mildly  explained  Arlington,  "the 
doctor  is  very  fond  of  comparative  anatomy,  and 
is  collecting  specimens.  The  skeleton  is  that  of 
an  Aztec  of  the  time  of  Cortez,  and  the  skulls 
are  from  Labrador,  the  South  Sea  Islands  and 
Australia." 

"They're  Digger  Injins,  skeletons  and  all," 
said  Hubbins. 

"  Why  doesn't  he  keep  them  in  the  sick  bay  ?  " 
inquired  Joe. 

"  It  wouldn't  be  cheerful  for  the  men  to  have 
them  knocking  round  there,"  rejoined  Hubbins. 

"The  trouble  is,"  observed  Coverly,  "the  doc- 
tor has  them  spread  out  about  twice  a  week  under 
a  lantern,  after  the  steerage  lights  are  out,  and 
Hubbins  can't  turn  in  his  hammock  without  being 
grinned  at.  Somebody  tucked  one  under  his  arm 
while  he  was  asleep,  the  other  night." 

"Yes,  somebody,"  said  Hubbins,  with  emphasis. 
"What's  your  specialty,  Mr.  Bently  ? "  he  con- 
tinued, turning  abruptly  to  Joe. 


52  HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS. 

"Oh!  I  haven't  any,"  laughed  Joe. 

"Well,  you'd  better  get  one,  if  it's  nothing  bet- 
ter than  picking  tunes  out  of  a  zithern,  like  Cover- 
ly.  A  cadet  without  his  specialty  nowadays  is 
like  a  young  brave  without  his  scalp.  You'll 
never  amount  to  anything  in  the  Navy  without  a 
specialty." 

"  Hubbins  thinks  the  cadets  are  all  professors, 
nowadays,"  laughed  Arlington. 

"  Professors  of  everything  but  their  business  — 
seamanship,"  retorted  Hubbins. 

"  Oh  !  let  up  on  the  cadets,  Hubbins,"  put  in 
Austy,  looking  up  from  his  tracing  paper. 
"These  new  fellows  will  take  you  literally." 

"Between  C overly  and  Hubbins,"  remarked  Ar- 
lington in  a  low  tone  to  Joe,  "we  have  lots  of  fun. 
Hubbins  is  thoroughly  kind-hearted ;  but  it's  too 
bad,  as  he  says,  that  he  has  to  live  in  the  steerage 
with  boys.     You'll  get  to  like  him  very  much." 

"I  think  I  shall,"  replied  Joe;  "and  Coverly 
and  Henlington,  too." 

"  The  worst  thing  about  Coverly,"  pursued  Ar- 
lington, "  is  that  he's  always  playing  practical 
jokes  on  us.  It  was  he  who  tucked  the  skull  un- 
der Hubbins'  arm.  Henlington,  by  the  way,  is  a 
fine  messmate,  but  a  little  peculiar.  He  is  a  great 
experimentist.  Why,  the  other  day,  just  to  learn 
how  people  feel  when  intoxicated,  he  drank  a  glass 
of  whiskey  for  the  first  time  in  his  life." 


HE    RECEIVES    ORDERS.  53 

Joe  looked  incredulous. 

"  I  can  assure  you  that  it  was  only  experimen- 
tal," resumed  Arlington.  "  He  was  determined 
to  know  for  himself,  if  there  is  anything  in  the 
sensation  to  excuse  a  man  for  getting  drunk." 

"Did  he  find  out  ?  " 

"  I  should  say  he  did.  He  didn't  get  out  of  his 
hammock  for  two  days.  He  doesn't  say  much 
about  it,  but  I  notice  he  never  touches  whiskey, 
now." 

"  Doesn't  Coverly  run  him  a  good  deal  about 
it  ? " 

"  He  did,  but  it's  got  to  be  an  old  story.  You 
will  find  Henlington  a  put-yourself-in-his-place 
kind  of  fellow,  and  very  intelligent." 

"The  young  gentlemen's  traps  is  here,  sir," 
said  the  coxswain  of  the  second  cutter,  putting  his 
head  inside  the  door,  and  the  work  of  unpacking 
began. 


I 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ASSIGNED    TO    HIS    DIVISION. 

T  did  not  take  long  for  the  cadets  to  dispose 
of  their  luggage.  Men-of-wars-men  have  a 
larger  bump  of  order  than  any  other  class  of  men 
in  the  world.  Their  facile  aptitude  in  every 
sort  of  ship  stowage,  would  excite  the  stevedore's 
envy.  Joe  was  a  most  accommodating  shipmate. 
He  good-naturedly  disposed  of  Swem's  replete 
wardrobe  in  their  single  locker,  leaving  but  little 
space  for  his  own.  He  likewise  relieved  Harry's 
perplexity  by  stretching  his  drawer  under  the  tran- 
som to  its  utmost  capacity,  thus  providing  for  the 
excess  of  that  young  gentleman's  outfit,  which, 
through  the  affectionate  agency  of  his  sisters  and 
an  admiring  cousin,  assumed  undue  proportions. 
Order  was  soon  restored  to  the  little  steerage, 
whose  general  appearance  a  few  moments  before, 
might  well  have  suggested  that  the  place  had 
"been  struck  by  lightning." 

Out  of  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  Joe  decided 
to  take  Swem  under  his  special  wing.  He  real- 
ized that  he  was  ill-adapted  to   the  Service,  and 

54 


ASSIGNED    TO    HIS    DIVISION.  55 

foresaw  that  not  a  few  disagreeable  things  were  in 
store  for  him.  Therefore  he  at  once  established 
a  highly  praiseworthy,  but  exceedingly  inconven 
ient  partnership. 

By  this  time,  also,  Joe  had  pretty  well  made  up 
his  mind  as  to  what  his  ship-life  was  likely  to  be. 
He  was  aware  that  in  the  familiar  relations  and 
intercourse  of  the  steerage,  he  would  be  looked 
upon  as  only  a  boy,  and  be  treated  accordingly. 
Nevertheless,  he  was  resolved  to  maintain  his  dig- 
nity as  a  young  officer.  For  Joe's  standard  of 
what  a  cadet  ought  to  be,  was  a  high  one ;  so  he 
was  determined,  and  without  making  any  fuss 
about  it  either,  to  live  up  to  it  as  well  as  he  could. 

No  sooner  was  the  last  bit  of  toggery  stowed 
away  —  no  doubt  to  its  own  happy  satisfaction, 
could  it  have  had  its  say — than  Joe  and  Harry 
set  out  to  explore  the  ship.  For  they  were  boys 
enough  to  be  completely  under  the  spell  of  a  man- 
of-war.  To  them,  a  fine  ship  seemed  a  kind  of 
sweetheart.  One  who  was  possessed  of  a  touch 
of  genuine  pride  and  self  consciousness.  At 
least,  the  Daybreak  appeared  to  know  how  to  fill 
their  minds  with  all  sorts  of  pretty  conceits  about 
herself. 

Thoroughly  prepossessed  with  the  Daybreak, 
the  cadets  began  what  might  be  termed  a  recon- 
naissance of  the  vessel.  They  had  planned  an  in- 
telligent survey,  as  they  wished  to  get  the  ship,  as 


5r)  ASSIGNED    TO    HIS    DIVISION. 

it  were,  under  their  hand  —  to  be  on  easy  terms 
with  her  from  the  beginning.  Arlington  had  kind- 
ly volunteered  to  accompany  them.  A  glance  suf- 
ficed to  show  that  everything  was  in  apple-pie 
order.  The  berth  deck,  the  point  of  their  setting 
out,  had  an  air  of  fastidious  neatness.  The  mate 
of  the  berth  deck  seemed  to  have  but  one  thought 
in  mind  —  that  the  admiral  might  pounce  down 
upon  it  some  day  when  it  was  not  ready  for 
inspection.  As  they  went  on,  Arlington  informed 
them  that  Austy  was  mate  of  the  berth  deck,  and 
that  he  was  so  fussy  about  it,  that  had  it  been  en- 
dowed with  ears  and  finger  nails,  he  would  have 
inspected  them  thrice  daily.  "The  marines  and 
berth-deck  cooks  call  him  '  Old  Mortality,' "  he 
concluded  with  a  laugh. 

The  armory,  the  engine  and  fire-rooms,  the 
holds,  the  store-rooms,  the  magazine  and  shell- 
room  passages  seemed  almost  to  obtrude  addi- 
tional testimony  upon  Joe  and  Harry  as  to  the 
order  and  cleanliness  that  pervaded  the  Daybreak 
from  keelson  to  main-truck. 

"  You  see,"  said  Arlington  as  they  reached  the 
spar  deck,  "  Captain  Farradale  insists  that  things 
can  be  kept  ship-shape  with  half  the  ordinary  work 
and  trouble.  Dirt  and  disorder  he  can't  and 
won't  stand.  The  men  all  know  it,  and  a  spot  of 
tar  on  deck  or  a  towel  hanging  out  of  a  port 
makes  a  lively  old  skirmish  among  them." 


ASSIGNED    TO    HIS    DIVISION*.  5  7 

As  regarded  order  and  cleanliness,  Joe  and 
Harry  thought  they  knew  how  a  ship  ought  to  be 
kept,  for  it  had  been  dinned  into  them,  yet  they 
regarded  the  bright,  well-kept  decks  of  the  Day- 
break with  a  feeling  akin  to  wonder.  Everything 
as  by  instinct  seemed  to  know  its  proper  place. 
Several  gratings  which,  for  some  purpose  or  other, 
had  been  taken  from  their  places  over  the  engine- 
room  hatch  and  stood  up  against  the  coaming, 
seemed  to  be  having  a  fit  of  the  sulks. 

Once  upon  the  spar  deck,  which  Arlington  in- 
formed them  was  the  finest  of  any  wooden  ship 
afloat,  Joe  was  lost  to  everything  but  the  battery. 
Had  he  been  disposed  to  answer  Hubbins'  ironical 
question,  and  expressed  his  preference  for  a  spe- 
cialty, it  would  undoubtedly  have  been  ordnance. 
The  guns  with  their  carriages  were  nearly  all  new. 
Inferior,  Arlington  said,  to  those  of  other  navies, 
but  still  the  best  in  the  United  States  Navy. 
They  were  highly  interesting,  as  they  indicated  a 
public  awakening  to  the  urgent  subject  of  national 
defense.  While  the  guns  were  not  of  sufficient 
calibre  to  sink  an  enemy's  ship,  they  would  with- 
out question,  he  thought,  send  her  home  for  re- 
pairs. By  a  process  of  daily  friction  under  the 
sharp  eyes  of  the  division  officers,  these  guns  had 
acquired  a  brilliancy  of  polish  that  made  all  visits 
ing  gun-captains  from  other  ships  green  with  envy. 

"What's  the   name    of  that  old  gun-captain?" 


58  ASSIGNED    TO    HIS    DIVISION. 

asked  Harry.  "He  looks  as  if  he'd  like  to  run  me 
through  for  daring  to  brush  up  against  his  gun." 

"Oh!  that's  old  Binder,"  laughed  Arlington. 
"  He's  quite  a  character.  A  lady,  who  was  visit- 
ing the  ship  the  other  day,  couldn't  keep  her  fin- 
gers off  that  gun,  it  was  so  bright.  It  was  too 
much  for  old  Binder.  Stepping  up  to  her,  he 
gave  a  comical  douse  to  his  cap  and  asked  if  she 
wouldn't  please  keep  her  '  dirty  paws  offen  that 
gun.'  He  didn't  mean  to  be  impertinent,  but  the 
captain  clapped  him  in  the  brig  for  it." 

The  cadets  spent  some  time  in  the  close  exami- 
nation of  a  new  Hotchkiss  revolving  cannon  and  a 
Gatling  gun,  just  received  from  the  Washington 
Navy  Yard. 

Arlington  explained  the  mechanism  of  each  one, 
and  also  said  that  in  their  way  they  were  as  deli- 
cate in  their  construction  as  a  chronometer.  The 
Gatling  gun,  he  declared,  was  a  perfect  prodigy  in 
the  way  it  could  reel  off  the  shot.  "This  bat- 
tery," continued  the  young  man,  with  considerable 
pride,  "  and  these  small  pieces,  would  be  more 
effective  in  action  in  our  day  than  anything  afloat 
in  the  war,  on  either  side." 

An  interesting  conversation  on  ordnance  en- 
sued, which  was  presently  interrupted  by  a  sort  of 
swooping  down  upon  them  of  the  executive  officer. 
It  was  the  first  time  Joe  and  Harry  had  seen  him. 
They  tried  to  find  him  upon  leaving  the  cabin,  but 


ASSIGNED    TO    HIS     DIVISION.  59 

soon  abandoned  the  search,  as  the  executive  was 
burrowing  among  all  sorts  of  ship  chandlery  down 
in  the  yeoman's  store-room.  This  officer  was  a 
man  of  quite  large  stature,  with  clean-cut  features, 
and  an  eye  so  keen  as  to  be  almost  piercing.  His 
expression  was  kindly,  and  his  manner  very  brisk. 
There  was  an  air  about  him  which  plainly  told  all 
delinquents  that  the  only  way  to  keep  on  the 
good  side  of  him  was  by  the  strictest  attention  to 
duty. 

His  appearance  was  so  much  in  the  nature  of 
an  apparition  that,  before  they  had  been  intro- 
duced to  him  and  drawn  into  an  animated  conver- 
sation, the  cadets  were  uncertain  as  to  what  sort 
of  an  impression  he  had  made  upon  them.  They 
had  indulged  in  no  little  conjecture  as  to  what 
this  new  executive  would  be  like.  For  they  knew 
how  much  a  ship's  happiness  depends  upon  her 
first  lieutenant.  While  in  a  sense  the  captain  of 
a  man-of-war  may  be  said  to  reign,  in  a  certain 
other  sense  the  executive  officer  may  be  said  to 
rule.  Therefore,  to  these  young  subalterns,  Mr. 
Moncrief  —  for  this  was  his  name  —  was  an  object 
of  much  curiosity  and  solicitude. 

Mr.  Moncrief  prided  himself  upon  one  of  his 
strong  points.  No  one  could  be  in  his  presence 
long  without  having  it  brought  pointedly  to  his 
attention.  And  this  was  his  talent  for  getting 
more  work  out  of  men  and  officers  than  any  other 


60  ASSIGNED    TO    HIS     DIVISION. 

executive  in  the  Navy.  He  flattered  himself  that 
this  was  done  not  so  much  by  his  authority  over 
them,  either.  Indeed,  those  who  knew  him  best 
admitted  that  it  was  accomplished  by  genuine  tact, 
and  by  the  force  of  his  own  character  and  exam- 
ple. That  there  was  any  limit  to  a  cadet's  capac- 
ity for  work,  he  scarcely  seemed  to  recognize. 
This,  to  be  sure,  was  a  compliment  to  the  cadet, 
but  also  an  occasion  for  alarm  as  well,  should  he 
at  any  time  permit  his  efforts  to  slacken. 

Mr.  Moncrief  lost  no  time  in  giving  the  cadets 
a  vision  of  their  duties,  and  it  could  not  be  called 
a  bird's-eye  view,  either.  His  remarks  were  but 
the  prologue  to  the  many  acts  and  scenes  which 
followed  in  the  development  of  his  supreme  idea. 
As  he  delivered  his  mind  of  his  expectations 
touching  the  cadets,  he  caught  an  expression  of 
comical  bewilderment  depicted  in  their  countenan- 
ces. He  himself  seemed  quite  struck  by  the  lav- 
ishness  of  his  own  exactions  upon  them,  but  could 
not  forego  concluding  his  observations  with  the 
old  naval  saw  that  "a  cadet's  duties  are  multitu- 
dinous, multifarious  and  never  ceasing." 

"Does  he  mean  all  that  for  us  ? "  asked  Harry, 
quite  out  of  breath  as  Mr.  Moncrief  hurried  away 
in  answer  to  a  message  from  the  captain. 

"Mean  it?"  replied  Arlington,  "you'll  find  out 
he  means  it.  He's  the  hardest-working  executive 
in  the  Navy.     Why,  there  isn't  a  morning  that  he 


ASSIGNED    TO    HIS     DIVISION.  6l 

doesn't  spend  half  the  watch  on  deck,  and  he's 
always  the  last  to  turn  in.  There's  no  let  up  to 
him." 

"I'm  not  afraid  of  him,"  said  Joe  complacently. 
"  But  what  did  he  mean  by  saying  we  must  be 
ready  for  a  good  deal  of  extra  duty  ? " 

"I  object  to  the  phrase,"  remarked  Harry. 
"Extra  duty  is  a  punishment  on  board  ship." 

"  Of  course  he  didn't  mean  to  insinuate  that 
we'd  get  extra  duty  in  the  sense  that  the  men  do," 
observed  Joe. 

"O,  no!"  said  Arlington.  "He  only  thinks 
that  a  naval  officer  can't  know  too  much,  and  he'll 
keep  you  busy." 

"  Can't  you  give  us  some  examples  of  what  we'll 
have  to  do?"  Joe  asked. 

"Well,  for  one  thing,  you'll  probably  have  to 
survey  this  harbor,  and  every  other  one  we  go  into, 
as  for  that  matter.  He  thinks  that  every  naval 
officer  should  know  how  to  pilot  any  ship  into  any 
harbor,  from  Key  West  to  Eastport.  When  I 
was  with  him  as  a  midshipman,*  I  had  so  much  of 
this  kind  of  work  to  do,  that  I  ran  a  little  hydro- 
graphic  office  on  my  own  hook." 

"  Oh !  I  didn't  know  you  had  been  with  him 
before,"  said  Joe. 

"  Yes,  I  know  all  about  him.  First  of  all,  he 
took   the   greatest   interest   in   my   journal.      One 

*  The  old  name  for  navel  cadet. 


62  ASSIGNED    TO    HIS     DIVISION. 

day  he  told  me  I  was  running  short  of  material, 
and  I'd  better  go  ashore  and  learn  all  I  could 
about  the  Brooklyn  Bridge.  After  I  had  written 
up  its  history,  he  made  me  work  out  the  tensile 
strength  of  the  cables.  When  the  ship  happened 
to  be  near  enough,  he  sent  me  to  Chester  to  study 
up  John  Roach's  establishment.  Another  time-, 
I  had  to  do  the  same  thing  by  the  South  Boston 
Iron  Works.  I  will  show  you  the  record  of  my 
visits." 

"  He  surely  didn't  overlook  ths  Torpedo  Sta- 
tion ? "  queried  Joe,  glancing  over  the  taffrail  at 
Goat  Island. 

"  O,  no  !  that  was  the  most  important  of  all, 
excepting  his  hobby  —  handling  ships  in  action 
under  sail." 

"  He  lives  at  the  wrong  time,  then,"  said  Harry. 
"  What  a  splendid  aid  he  would  have  made  to 
Decatur  or  Perry !  The  fighting  ship  of  the  fu- 
ture won't  have  sails.  She'll  be  a  kind  of  huge 
raft  like  the  Dandolo,*  for  carrying  big  guns." 

"  Sails  will  never  be  abandoned,  you  may  rest 
assured,"  said  Joe.  "  A  very  slight  accident 
would  disable  the  most  perfect  machinery  afloat." 

"Yes,"  added  Arlington,  "bearings  might  get 
hot,  a  shell  might  explode  in  the  engine-room,  or 
the  propellers  be  shot  away.  Then,  where  would 
your   raft   be  ?     No,   tacks  and  sheets   will   never 

*  Italian  man-of-war. 


ASSIGNED    TO    HIS     DIVISION.  63 

be  displaced  by  coal-whips,"  he  concluded,  with 
emphasis. 

"  But  how  does  Mr.  Moncrief  manage  his  hob- 
by ?  "   asked  Joe. 

"  Oh  !  he  has  a  special  drill  once  a  week.  The 
ship  is  supposed  to  have  an  enemy's  shot  in  her 
boilers,  or  her  machinery  to  have  broken  down, 
and  she  has  to  fight  under  sail  alone,  or  surrender. 
Then  the  sails  are  handled  to  suit  every  conceiv- 
able manoeuvre.  He  has  a  war  game  too,  which 
they  play  in  the  ward  room  evenings,  for  recrea- 
tion. He'll  have  you  in  before  long  to  try  a 
hand  at  it,"  and  he  gave  him  an  amused  look. 

"I  don't  like  sham  fighting,"  said  Harry.  "It's 
too  much  like  learning  to  shoot  with  an  air  gun." 

"Edgerton's  spoiling  for  a  war,"  laughed  Joe. 

"Well,  I  never  could  get  up  any  enthusiasm 
over  playing  at  war,"  urged  Harry.  "It's  a  cir- 
cumlocution office.  About  all  you  learn  is  how 
not  to  do  it." 

"You  can't  get  up  a  war  just  to  learn  how  to 
fight,  that's  a  sure  case,"  remarked  Arlington. 
"But  just  wait  till  the  squadron  drills  come  off; 
you'll  forget  whether  you're  at  the  bombardment 
of  Fort  Fisher,  or  the  battle  of  Trafalgar." 

"That  will  be  splendid,"  put  in  Joe. 

"If  I  had  my  way,"  continued  Arlington,  "I'd 
use  up  two  or  three  of  the  old  ships  every  summer 
in  sham  battles.      First,  I'd  shell  them;  then   I'd 


64  ASSIGNED    TO    HIS     DIVISION. 

let  them  taste  a  torpedo.  If  that  didn't  sink  them, 
I'd  try  ramming." 

"  How  about  the  killed  and  wounded  ?  "  laughed 
Harry. 

"Oh!  I  wouldn't  have  anybody  on  board.  I'd 
tow  them  out  to  sea  as  the  Italian  ships  do,  and 
clear  for  action.  But  it's  hard  to  learn  to  fight 
without  fighting.  By  the  way,  I  liked  Captain 
Farradale's  idea,  when  I  was  with  him  as  a  mid- 
shipman in  the  Constellation." 

"What  did  he  do?"  asked  Joe,  eager  for  infor- 
mation touching  his  new  captain. 

"Why,  he  used  to  get  the  ship  into  all  sorts  of 
scrapes,  just  to  teach  us  how  to  handle  her.  One 
day,  coming  into  Newport,  he  ran  her  nose  into 
Goat  Island.  We  worked  nearly  a  week  to  get 
her  off.  Sometimes  in  tacking  he  would  let  her 
miss  stays.  Once  he  allowed  her  to  be  taken 
aback  in  a  pretty  stiff  breeze,  and  several  times  we 
had  to  claw  off  a  lee  shore  for  dear  life.  I  shall 
never  forget  one  day  at  boat  drill  in  Boston  Har- 
bor"— 

"  Good  morning,  Commodores  !  Fighting  your 
battles  over  again,  I  see." 

The  cadets  turned  quickly,  and  saw  a  gentle- 
man whom  Arlington  presently  introduced  as 
Lieutenant  Bloomsbury.  He  stood  regarding 
them  with  a  highly  amused  aspect.  He  was  fat 
and  jolly,  had  a  look  of  irrepressible,  as  well  as 


ASSIGNED    TO    HIS    DIVISION.  65 

inexhaustible,  good-nature.  The  heartiness  with 
which  he  shook  hands,  and  the  ringing  welcome 
he  gave  them,  quite  touched  Joe  and  Harry.  But 
he  had  just  time  to  say  a  few  words  when,  much 
to  their  disappointment,  he  was  called  away. 

"He's  the  Mark  Tapley  of  the  ship,"  Arlington 
observed,  when  Mr.  Bloomsbury  was  out  of  ear- 
shot. "Only,  if  anything,  there's  more  fun  in 
him.  You'll  like  him  best  of  all  the  watch-offi- 
cers. Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  midshipman  who 
pinned  the  two  commodores  together  by  their 
coat-tails  ? "  continued  Arlington,  laughing  heartily. 
"Well,  he's  the  one  that  did  it." 

The  cadets  had*heard  the  story,  but  it  seemed 
doubly  amusing  now  that  they  had  seen  the  auda- 
cious perpetrator. 

"  Oh !  I  forgot  all  about  the  watch-officers," 
said  Joe.  "Who  are  they?"  And  he  fell  to  mus- 
ing how  pleasant  it  would  be  should  it  fall  to  his 
lot  to  be  in  Mr.  Bloomsbury's  division,  and  to  be 
gentleman  of  his  watch.* 

Arlington  explained  that  there  were  four  of 
them  ;  that  in  port  they  were  in  four  watches,  and 
at  sea  in  five.  "I  am  the  fifth,"  he  said,  "as  I 
stand  a  regular  watch  at  sea." 

"Do  the  cadets  ever  have  the  deck  at  sea?" 
Harry  inquired. 

*  The  cadet  on  duty  on  the  port  side  of   the  quarter  deck  is  entitled, 
"Gentleman  of  the  watch." 


66  ASSIGNED    TO    HIS    DIVISION. 

"In  good  weather  Captain  Farradale  always 
turns  it  over  to  them.  Of  course  with  a  regular 
watch-officer  standing  by  to  see  that  nothing  goes 
wrong.  But  I  want  to  tell  you  more  about  Mr. 
Bloom  sbury." 

Joe  and  Harry  eagerly  assented. 

"Mr.  Bloomsbury,"  Arlington  went  on,  "does 
not  agree  with  Mr.  Moncrief  in  his  idea  of  a  fight- 
ing ship.  He  would  dispense  with  sails  alto- 
gether. You'd  laugh  to  hear  them  discuss  the 
relative  merits  of  either  kind  of  ship  over  the  war- 
game.  He  thinks  in  an  engagement,  the  masts 
would  be  the  first  thing  to  be  shot  away.  This 
would  be  likely  to  kill  half  the  people  on  deck,  and 
silence  the  pivot  guns  by  obstructing  the  car- 
riages. Or  it  would  make  such  a  tangle  that  the 
ship  would  become  unmanageable.  You  must  get 
him  to  show  you  a  ship  he  has  modeled." 

"What  is  it  like?"  Joe  asked,  much  interested. 

"It  suits  Mr.  Edgerton's  idea  to  a  T.  It  is  not 
much  more  than  a  raft.  He  has  telescopic  ar- 
rangements where  the  masts  ought  to  be ;  so  if 
anything  should  happen  the  engines,  the  tubes  — 
that's  what  they  are  —  could  be  run  up  like  a 
smoke-stack,  and  be  rigged  as  jury  masts.  There 
is  great  sport  in  the  wardroom  over  the  style  of 
ship  that  ought  to  be  built  for  the  new  Navy ;  a 
little  War  of  the  Roses,  you  know." 

During  the  intervals  of   conversation,  Joe  was 


ASSIGNED    TO    HIS    DIVISION.  6j 

getting  everything  pretty  well  in  mind.  He  dis- 
liked details  as  much  as  Harry,  but  he  well  knew 
that  it  is  only  by  the  strictest  attention  to  such, 
that  success  in  any  sphere  can  be  won.  The  lad- 
der on  which  he  was  to  work  his  way  up  was  to 
be  constructed  out  of  a  minute  and  thorough 
knowledge  of  his  profession.  He  experienced  a 
thrill  of  genuine  pride  as  the  thought  came  home 
to  him  that  he  was  now  a  part  of  the  Daybreak's 
complement,  and  he  began  to  grow  impatient  for 
the  next  day  to  come,  when  he  would  be  assigned 
to  duty. 

A  few  hours  later,  it  was  with  great  pleasure 
that  Joe  received  a  message  from  the  executive 
officer  to  come  to  him  on  the  quarter  deck.  After 
a  little  preliminary  instruction  as  to  what  would 
be  expected  of  him,  it  was  with  no  little  delight 
that  he  received  the  information  that  he  was  to  be 
in  Mr.  Bloomsbury's  division,  and  that  he  would 
begin  his  tour  of  duty  on  deck  by  being  gentle- 
man of  his  watch.  His  first  duty,  however,  would 
be  to  go  ashore  in  charge  of  the  market  boat  early 
the  next  morning.  Joe  never  dreamed  that  Mr. 
Bloomsbury  had  promptly  asked  that  he  might  be 
assigned  to  his  division. 


CHAPTER    V. 


FIRST    DUTY. 


JOE'S  weather  eye  was  already  open  when  he 
was  called  next  morning  to  go  ashore  in 
charge  of  the  market-boat.  Upon  reaching  the 
deck,  he  found  one  of  the  loveliest  of  the  beauti- 
ful summer  mornings  for  which  Newport  is  cele- 
brated the  world  over.  The  sun  was  just  rising 
upon  Narragansett  Bay,  and  the  islands  and  slight 
eminences  all  around  were  tinged  with  a  deep  and 
brilliant  orange.  The  fishermen  were  putting  off 
in  the  first  puff  of  the  land  breeze,  and  the  sails 
of  the  cat-boats  were  flapping  at  their  single  masts 
as  if  irritated  because  no  passengers  would  come 
to  enjoy  this  luxurious  morning  upon  the  bay. 
Far  away  toward  Point  Judith,  a  fleet  of  yachts 
was  coming  in.  Every  inch  of  canvas  was  shaken 
out,  and  the  white  sails,  catching  the  now  broad 
glow  of  the  morning,  flashed  in  gorgeous  colors, 
according  as  they  came  up  into  or  fell  away  from 
the  slanting  light. 

But  Joe  had  no  time  to  devote  to  mere  idle  gaz- 
ing.     Hammocks    had    been    piped   up,   and   were 

6S 


FIRST    DUTY.  69 

already  neatly  stowed  in  the  nettings,  and  coffee 
was  now  being  served  out  to  the  crew.  To  a 
young  officer  like  Joe,  how  much  more  inspiration 
is  there  in  a  cup  of  genuine  Java  and  Mocha,  than 
in  the  most  brilliant  morning  that  ever  shone  upon 
the  earth.  So  at  the  galley,  from  a  cup  of  no 
transparent  hue  or  fragile  texture,  Joe  quaffed  the 
morning  beverage  of  a  man-of-war. 

With  keenest  pleasure  he  listened  to  the  same 
old  babble  of  other  days.  There  were  the  same 
growls  of  the  cooks,  the  same  caustic  observations 
from  the  stewards  over  the  elusive  tendencies  of 
the  colored  servants,  the  identical  quips  and  jokes, 
and  sharp,  wordy  rencounters  with  which  he  had 
formerly  been  so  familiar.  Soldiers'  camps  and 
men-of-war  decks  at  reveille,  from  day  to  day,  will 
witness  the  enactment  of  the  same  lively  drama  so 
long  as  the  world  shall  stand. 

Coffee  and  pipes,  apprentice-boy  nonsense  and 
skylarking,  everything  over  with  but  growling, 
which  is  as  constant  as  a  ship's  chronometer,  the 
day's  work  began.  The  boatswain,  bluff  and  pip- 
ing as  a  nor'wester,  roused  out  the  dinghy's  crew, 
and  soon,  at  a  distance  from  the  ship,  he  was  cant- 
ing his  head  about  like  a  parrot,  to  see  that  every 
yard  was  square,  and  every  rope  marking  as 
straight  a  line  as  though  it  had  been  drawn  with 
chalk  upon  a  blackboard.  The  petty  officers  were 
hunting    up  men  and  boys  from   their  respective 


yO  FIRST    DUTY. 

parts  of  the  ship,  and  many  of  the  said  men  and 
boys  were  scampering  for  the  tops,  while  others 
were  scurrying  swabs,  buckets  and  squilgees  along 
the  decks,  preparatory  to  washing  down. 

Indeed,  in  the  general  displacement  of  things, 
the  ship  had  an  appearance  as  of  the  near  explo- 
sion of  a  torpedo,  which,  while  it  might  leave  the 
vessel  uninjured,  in  forecastle  parlance,  would 
knock  everything  into  a  cocked  hat.  So  with  the 
scrubbing  of  decks,  the  creaking  of  pulleys,  as  the 
day's  boats  were  being  lowered,  the  calls  of  the 
boatswain's  mates  for  shirkers  and  blacklisters, 
the  humming  of  tunes  and  the  occasional  burst  of 
a  song,  the  work  went  merrily  on,  a  medley  chal- 
lenging description. 

Some  little  delay  took  place  in  getting  the  cut- 
ter manned.  Joe  did  not  know  her  crew,  and  a 
number  of  them  were  in  no  hurry  to  heed  the 
bugle-call.  A  sharp  reprimand,  however,  from  the 
officer  of  the  deck  sent  them  out  along  the  boom 
and  down  the  Jacob's  ladder  into  the  boat  as  if  a 
boatswain's  mate  were  in  hot  pursuit,  armed  with 
the  old  navy-cat.  A  moment  more  and  the  cutter 
shot  up  to  the  gangway.  Taking  in  her  usual 
load  of  stewards,  market-baskets  and  pet  dogs, 
with  our  hero  duly  installed  as  cadet  in  charge,  she 
was  off  and  away. 

A  dozen  or  more  steam  yachts  lay  in  the  har- 
bor, and  their  boats  for  marketing  were  likewise 


FIRST     DUTY.  /I 

shoving  off  all  around  in  greatest  haste.  Their 
crews  bent  to  the  oars  as  if  the  gun-cotton  stored 
at  the  Torpedo  Station  were  about  to  explode,  and 
they  were  pulling  from  an  impending  catastrophe. 
But  it  was  only  a  challenge  to  the  cutter's  crew. 
That  crew,  however,  had  already  sniffed  it  in  the 
air,  and  their  blood  was  up.  In  a  moment  the 
boat  was  leaping  through  the  water,  tossing  it  at 
her  antagonists  in  disdainful  spray.  It  was  the 
usual  morning  contest,  and  very  soon,  with  every 
competitor  astern,  the  cutter  rounded  in  to  her 
landing  as  gracefully  as  though  the  race  had  been 
a  regatta,  with  thousands  of  spectators  watching 
it  from  the  shore. 

What  is  generally  an  inane  waiting  of  an  hour 
or  more,  while  the  stewards  haggle  with  butchers 
and  grocerymen  and  quarrel  with  one  another, 
proved  not  without  interest  or  incident  to  Joe. 
First,  he  busied  himself  with  looking  at  the  water- 
front of  Newport.  His  powers  of  observation  had 
been  well  trained,  and  he  always  endeavored  to 
turn  them  to  good  account. 

It  was  well  for  him,  as  this  work  began,  that  he 
gave  momentary  attention  to  the  usual  habitues 
of  the  wharves.  Though  it  was  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, they  seemed  to  be  out  in  full  force.  They 
stood  or  sat  as  quiet  as  so  many  idols.  Some 
were  holding  fishing-rods  and  pretending  to  fish. 
He  wondered  what  the  fascination  could  be  which 


/'.2  FIRST    DUTY. 

held  these  dummies  for  hours  fast  to  one  spot 
with  seldom  so  much  as  a  smelt  to  reward  them 
for  their  toil.  But  Joe  could  not  appreciate  the 
luxury  of  perfect  repose,  nor  the  simple  joy  of 
seeming  to  do  something  by  doing  absolutely 
nothing. 

One  of  the  figures  amused  him  very  much.  It 
wore  a  sailor's  rig  of  fifty  years  ago,  the  whole 
crowned  by  what  had  once  been  a  glazed  hat. 
This  hat  looked  as  if  it  had  once  afforded  grazing 
ground  for  some  kind  of  insect,  and  had  been  so 
closely  cropped  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  glazed 
spot  here  and  there  about  as  big  as  the  head  of  a 
pin,  it  represented  a  barren  waste.  The  image 
was  furthermore  adorned  with  a  wooden  leg,  bear- 
ing every  evidence  of  home  manufacture,  its 
whole  length  protruding  from  the  wharf.  Pres- 
ently the  image  began  to  wriggle  about,  and  the 
leg,  which  had  been  carelessly  strapped  on,  slipped 
off.  Joe  had  been  regarding  it  with  curiosity,  not 
to  say  suspicion,  and  in  the  nick  of  time  thought 
it  would  do  no  harm  to  make  room  for  it  in  the 
sternsheets  of  the  boat.  And,  as  acting  upon  this 
impulse,  he  sprang  forward,  it  came  clown  with  a 
tremendous  thump,  striking  the  place  where  he 
had  been  sitting. 

"Fire  that  leg  up  here,  will  yer  ? "  called  the 
figure-head,  in  a  gruff  voice.  "It  was  fortunit 
you  was  there,  or  I'd  a  lost  it." 


FIRST    DUTY.  "  3 

"It  was  extremely  fortunate,"  said  Joe;  "not 
to  mention  the  fact  that  it  nearly  cost  me  my 
head." 

"  Young  man,  if  you  don't  lose  yer  head  afore 
it  gits  mashed  by  a  wooden  leg,  you'll  keep  it  a 
long  time.  If  it  warn't  for  them  brass  buttons, 
and  that  ar'  sword  as  you  couldn't  spear  a  sculpin 
with,  you  wouldn't  think  so  much  o'  that  precious 
head." 

"Well,  it's  worth  more  to  me  than  your  wooden 
leg  is  to  you,  and  I  hope  you'll  be  more  careful 
another  time." 

"Young  man,"  continued  the  image,  very  sol- 
emnly and  slowly,  "John  'Bunnion'  says  : 

'  He  as  is  down  need  fear  no  fall; 
He  as  is  low,  no  pride.'  " 

"John  Bunyan  said  it,  did  he?  Well,  I  hardly 
think  he  was  describing  a  man  in  a  boat,  with  a 
wooden  leg  coming  down  on  top  of  his  head,"  said 
Joe,  laughing. 

"  Young  man,  don't  make  fun  o'  yer  betters. 
You'll  live  a  long  time  accordin'  to  my  way  o' 
thinkin'  afore  you're  as  big  a  man  as  ole  John 
'  Bunnion.' ' 

"I  think  that's  very  likely." 

"  Gimme  that  leg,  and  don't  stan'  there  a  makin' 
fun  o'   me  as  has  to  wear  a  wooden   leg,  as  was 


74  FIRST    DUTY. 

lost  in  battle,  as  he's  waitin'  to  git  a  pension  for, 
an'  has  to  fish  for  a  livin'." 

By  the  time  the  image  had  finished  speaking, 
the  whole  boat's  company  were  in  a  roar  of  laugh- 
ter at  his  unconscious  drollery.  Joe  could  see 
the  old  man's  eyes  flash  at  this  demonstration, 
and  he  directed  the  coxswain  to  toss  back  the 
wooden  limb. 

"Here,"  he  sung  out,  "is  something  that  will 
keep  you  in  fish  for  one  day,"  and  he  pitched  up  a 
fifty-cent  piece,  which  the  old  sailor  grabbed  as 
quickly  as  an  ostrich  would  pick  up  a  penny. 

The  wooden  leg  having  been  duly  restored,  Joe 
got  out  his  pocket  compass,  and  began  getting 
the  bearing  of  different  points  and  objects  around. 
He  had  become  quite  absorbed  in  this  occupation, 
when  he  was  interrupted  by  one  of  the  bow  oars- 
men asking  if  he  might  not  have  permission  to  go 
up  town.  Joe  had  received  strict  orders  not  to 
allow  any  member  of  the  crew  to  leave  the  boat. 

"I  beg  pardon,  sir,"  said  the  coxswain;  "  Con- 
ners  wants  some  grog." 

Conners  was  the  man's  name. 

Something  had  been  out  of  joint  with  this  man 
all  the  morning.  He  appeared  sullen  and  insub- 
ordinate, and  when  the  rest  of  the  crew  had 
thrown  themselves  into  the  race  with  greatest 
zest,  he  only  mechanically  dipped  his  oar. 

Our  hero   gave  him   a  peremptory  order  not   to 


FIRST    DUTY.  75 

leave  the  boat.  But  by  this  time  Conners  had 
taken  the  matter  into  his  own  hands,  and,  having 
cleared  the  boat  with  one  spring,  he  was  half-way 
up  the  wooden  steps  leading  to  the  wharf. 

"Get  back  into  the  boat,"  shouted  Joe,  his  face 
flushed  and  his  frame  quivering  with  excitement. 

"I'll  come  back  in  a  minute,  sir.  I  only  want 
to  go  to  the  head  of  the  wharf,"  Conners  replied. 

Giving  a  hasty  order  for  everybody  to  stay  in 
the  boat,  Joe  was  out  of  her  in  an  instant,  clearing 
several  steps  at  a  bound.  Conners  was  quite  a 
large  man,  and  very  nimble  of  foot.  When,  there- 
fore, he  saw  Joe  in  full  pursuit,  he  took  to  his 
heels,  and  led  him  a  smart  race  up  the  wharf. 
But  he  had  not  counted  on  our  hero's  length  of 
limb  and  athletic  training,  and  by  the  time  they 
reached  Water  Street  Joe  had  a  solid  grip  upon 
his  prize,  or  what  he  was  determined  at  any  haz- 
ard, to  make  his  prize.  Joe  had  seen  men  jump 
boats  before,  and  on  his  first  trip  as  cadet  in 
charge,  he  did  not  propose  to  undergo  the  humili- 
ation of  having  to  report  that  one  of  his  men  had 
gotten  away. 

Not  many  people  were  stirring  about  the  street. 
But  to  Joe's  consternation,  the  few  there  were 
began  to  form  in  a  crowd.  Even  the  dummies  left 
their  lines  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and  came 
running  up  from  the  wharves.  A  side  glance 
showed  him  his  old  friend  with  the  wooden  leg, 


y6  FIRST    DUTY. 

bowling  along  at  a  double-quick.  Joe  was  exceed- 
ingly mortified  at  all  this,  but  having  attempted 
Conners'  capture,  he  was  bound  to  complete  it. 

Luckily  for  him,  Conners  had  no  intention  of 
engaging  in  a  pugilistic  encounter.  Such  an  en- 
counter would  have  ended  badly  for  Joe.  His 
antagonist  was  not  yet  thirty,  and  his  active  sea- 
life  had  given  him  an  alertness  of  movement  and 
hardness  of  muscle  which  Joe  had  not  yet  ac- 
quired. But  had  Conners  been  seven  feet  tall, 
and  proportionately  stout,  it  would  have  been  just 
the  same  with  Joe.  His  hand  was  no  match  for 
Conners'  hard  fist,  but  Conners  knew  it  repre- 
sented the  grip  of  the  law,  and  he  would  have 
taken  almost  any  risk  sooner  than  that  of  striking 
an  officer  while  in  the  execution  of  his  duty. 

He  therefore  undertook  to  jerk  and  wriggle 
himself  clear.  But  wrench  and  twist  as  he  would, 
it  only  served  to  tighten  Joe's  hold  upon  him. 
As  well  might  he  have  attempted  in  the  same  way 
to  make  a  steel  trap  let  go.  Several  times  they 
lost  their  footing,  but  each  time  Conners  regained 
his  feet  only  to  find  the  invincible  Joe  hanging  to 
him  more  sturdily  than  ever.  Finally  he  gave 
over  the  struggle,  and  was  marched  back  to  the 
boat. 

Somewhat  out  of  breath  from  his  severe  exer- 
tion, Joe  resumed  his  seat  in  the  cutter,  the  evi- 
dent   admiration    of    the    crew.      On    two    former 


FIRST    DUTY.  J  J 

occasions  Conners  had  escaped  from  the  cox- 
swain, who  was  a  powerful  man,  and  now  to  be 
captured  by  a  cadet,  was  very  humiliating  to  him, 
and  a  high  feather  in  the  Middy's  cap.  While 
Conners  looked  very  sheepish,  Joe  endeavored  to 
appear  as  unconcerned  and  complacent  as  possible. 
By  the  time  the  boat,  with  its  huge  bags  of  bread 
and  toppling  baskets,  was  ready  to  shove  off,  he 
was  as  composed  as  ever. 

On  the  way  back  to  the  Daybreak  he  was  much 
exercised  as  to  what  he  ought  to  do  about  the 
affair.  If  he  reported  Conners,  there  would  prob- 
ably be  a  court-martial  resulting,  and  he  thought 
from  Conners'  appearance  that  a  court-martial 
would  not  reach  his  case. 

"Why  not  take  him  in  hand  myself,"  he  re- 
flected, "and  see  if  I  cannot  help  him  overcome 
his  appetite  ? " 

It  was  evident  to  Joe  that  Conners  had  had  no 
intention  of  deserting ;  he  only  wanted  a  drink. 
Joe  also  knew  that  a  personal  interest  on  the  part 
of  officers,  in  such  men  as  Conners,  would  do 
more  for  their  reformation  than  all  the  brigs  and 
double  irons  in  the  Navy.  Besides,  there  was 
something  about  this  man  that  he  liked.  He  cer- 
tainly admired  his  fine  physique  and  his  great 
strength,  and  he  did  not  look  like  a  bad  man, 
although  he  had  not  presented  himself  in  a  flatter- 
ing: lisrht  that  morning". 


78  FIRST     DUTY. 

It  took  but  a  few  minutes  to  settle  the  matter. 
Joe  resolved  to  win  Conners'  friendship,  and  thus 
see  if  he  could  not  make  a  man  of  him. 

But  his  good  resolution  weakened  when  he 
reported  the  boat's  return  to  the  officer  of  the 
deck.  That  gentleman  said  nothing,  but  seemed 
to  scrutinize  him  with  an  air  of  displeasure. 
When  he  reached  his  quarters  he  saw  why  he  had 
done  so.  Pushing  Swem  away  from  the  single 
glass  rather  unceremoniously,  he  took  a  look  at 
himself.  He  was  in  a  pitiable  plight  for  a  mili- 
tary young  man.  His  coat  was  torn  and  dirty, 
and  he  had  a  scratch  across  his  cheek,  which  Con- 
ners had  accidentally  inflicted,  from  which  the 
blood  was  flowing.  Swem  looked  at  him  in 
amazement.  Coverly,  who  was  sitting  at  the 
table  eating  his  breakfast,  remarked  that  he 
looked  as  if  he  had  been  rolling  in  the  ashes  of 
Pompeii,  where  the  eggs  he  was  eating  came  from. 
Harry  made  an  observation  to  the  effect  that  he 
must  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  Bowery 
tough,  who  had  wiped  up  a  saloon  with  him. 
Hubbins  roared  out  that,  "whoever  he  has  been 
fighting  with,  the  evidence  is  indisputable  that  the 
fellow  licked  him." 

As  Joe  viewed  himself  in  the  glass,  he  began  to 
grow  very  angry  with  Conners.  His  first  impulse 
was  to  make  himself  presentable,  and  go  and 
report  the  matter  at   once.      But  his  good  resolu- 


FIRST    DUTY.  79 

tion  prevailed,  and  he  cooled  down.  Of  course 
he  had  to  give  account  of  himself  to  his  mess- 
mates, who,  when  he  had  told  the  story,  insisted 
upon  knowing  why  he  had  not  reported  Conners. 

''Because,"  he  frankly  answered,  "I'm  going  to 
see  if  I  can't  make  a  man  of  him,  myself." 

At  this  a  shout  went  up  from  several. 

"I'd  as  soon  think  of  blowing  the  Puritan  out 
of  water  with  a  fire-cracker,"  said  one.  "Gentle- 
men," sung  out  Hubbins,  "let  me  introduce  our 
temperance  sharp,  our  'Holy  Joe,'  our  'sky  pilot,' 
the  Rev.  J.  Bently,  Chaplain  U.  S.  N." 

"Mr.  Hubbins,"  said  Joe,  very  quietly  and 
firmly,  "  I  did  not  speak  of  my  intention  toward 
Conners  to  excite  ridicule.  And,  sir,  let  this  be 
the  first  and  the  last  time  that  you  ever  apply  any 
epithets  to  me."  With  this,  he  picked  up  his 
dilapidated  coat  and  left  the  steerage. 

"Well,"  said  Hubbins,  for  the  instant  more 
chagrined  than  angry,  "  that's  a  plain  statement  of 
the  case."  Then  his  temper  getting  the  better  of 
him,  he  began  to  make  remarks  not  at  all  compli- 
mentary to  our  hero. 

"Bently  isn't  here  to  defend  himself,"  said 
Harry,  who,  though  he  had  little  faith  in  Joe's 
scheme  for  reforming  Conners,  had  not  joined  in 
the  uproariousness  against  it  ;  "but  if  you're  hunt- 
ing round  after  somebody  to  run,  it  will  be  for  your 
interest  not  to  take  him." 


80  FIRST     DUTY. 

"No,"  said  Swem  ;  "he  doesn't  scare  worth  a 
cent,  and  he  isn't  particularly  long-suffering." 

Arlington  was  also  about  to  put  in  a  word  for 
the  absent  cadet,  when  he  reappeared,  looking  as 
if  nothing  had  happened.  The  first  thing  he  did 
was  to  ask  Hubbins  some  question  or  other,  which 
was  done  so  pleasantly  that,  in  spite  of  himself, 
Hubbins  had  to  answer  it,  though  he  did  so  rather 
gruffly.  Then  he  told  them  about  the  man  with 
the  wooden  leg,  which  set  even  Hubbins  laughing. 
Presently,  good  humor  being  restored,  Joe  began 
his  preparations  for  quarters. 

A  genuine  surprise  awaited  him  there,  al- 
though a  very  common  occurrence  in  the  Service. 
While  standing  at  the  head  of  his  division,  during 
inspection,  he  happened  to  glance  forward,  where 
he  made  an  almost  startling  discovery.  Standing 
at  the  tail-end  of  the  navigator's  division,  was  an 
old  sailor-man  who  bore  the  closest  resemblance 
to  his  friend,  old  Dicky  Dawson.  This  man  was 
looking  straight  at  him,  but  without  the  slightest 
recognition.  Joe  was  delighted,  but  he  could 
scarcely  believe  the  evidence  of  his  own  senses. 
If  it  were  Dawson,  why  had  he  not  come  aft  and 
spoken  to  him  the  day  before  ?  He  surely  must 
have  seen  him  about  the  ship. 

Joe's  sharp  eyes  had  not  deceived  him.  It  was 
indeed  Dawson.  He  had  caught  sight  of  Joe  sev- 
eral times,  but  had  been  ashamed  to  show  himself. 


FIRST    DUTY.  Si 

He  was  under  a  cloud,  and  was  in  a  condition  of 
deep  self-abasement.  His  old  enemy  had  been 
getting  the  better  of  him,  and  his  pride  was  in  the 
dust ;  or,  nautically  speaking,  under  hatches.  He 
was  just  beginning  a  long  period  of  quarantine, 
the  sentence  of  a  court-martial,  which  was  sorely 
depressing  to  him,  particularly  as  he  had  been 
recommended  to  Captain  Farradale  as  the  para- 
gon of  old  sailors. 

The  instant  the  drum  beat  retreat  Joe  started 
for  the  forecastle.  Dawson  had  anticipated  this, 
and  acted  as  if  he  seemed  anxious  that  the  vision 
which  had  startled  his  former  boy-friend  should 
be  regarded  as  in  the  nature  of  a  materialization  ; 
for  he  was  vanishing  down  a  companion-ladder  as 
fast  as  his  unsteady  nerves  would  permit,  when 
Joe  reached  him.  He  was  making  for  the  fore- 
hold,  that  favorite  resort  of  ghosts  and  penitents. 

But  he  was  right  about  face  in  an  instant.  He 
had  not  descended  three  steps  before  Joe's  hand 
was  clapped  upon  his  shoulder,  and  he  was  as 
securely  in  custody  as  Conners  had  been  in  the 
early  morning.  Joe  could  hardly  refrain  from 
embracing  his  old  friend,  and  his  greeting  was  so 
warm  that  the  tears  sprang  to  Dawson's  eyes. 

It  took  only  a  few  minutes  to  get  at  the  cause 
of  all  his  shyness  and  depression.  It  was  the  same 
old  story  —  of  getting  drunk,  and  while  in  that 
condition    committing  a  court-martial   offense,  for 


82  FIRST    DUTY. 

which  he  was  now  suffering  the  penalty.  Joe 
talked  very  kindly  and  encouragingly  to  him,  and 
told  him  that  his  only  hope  was  in  resolving  to  let 
rum  alone. 

"I  knows  it,  sir,"  said  Dicky;  "but  when  I  gits 
one  drink,  it's  like  as  if  I  was  out  in  a  boat  in  a 
tide-way;   I  can't  pull  ag'in  the  temptation." 

"  Perhaps  if  you  and  I  pull  together,  Dawson, 
you  can  at  least  be  kept  from  going  very  far  down 
stream." 

"That's  what  I's  ben  a  thinkin',  sir,  But  I  was 
afeared  when  I  seed  ye  come  aboard  with  yer 
shoulder  knots  an'  sword  on,  that  maybe  ye  would 
not  care  no  more  for  the  likes  o'  me.  Liker  is  a 
awful  cuss,  sir." 


CHAPTER  VI. 


SCHOPY     S      SKETCH 


JOE'S  first  week  on  board  the  Daybreak,  not- 
withstanding its  press  of  work,  passed  quickly 
away.  It  was  literally  crowded  with  duties,  and 
perhaps  in  this  respect  could  hardly  be  taken  as  a 
type  of  the  weeks  that  were  to  follow.  During 
all  this  time  he  had  scarcely  an  hour  to  himself. 
Besides  the  regular  drills  and  other  routine  work, 
there  was  no  end  of  boat  duty ;  he  being  often 
called  from  his  meals  to  go  in  boats.  These  sum- 
mons became  so  frequent  that,  whenever  he  was 
lucky  enough  to  get  to  the  table  at  all,  he  gave 
free  rein  to  the  Pegasus  of  his  appetite,  and,  so  to 
speak,  put  the  spurs  in,  too. 

To  take  up  the  thread  of  his  ship-life,  we  find 
him,  at  the  end  of  the  aforesaid  week,  with  the 
time  between  dinner,  at  four  bells  in  the  evening, 
and  eight  bells,  the  hour  he  was  to  go  on  watch, 
absolutely  his  own.  On  this  particular  evening 
dinner  was  no  sooner  over  than  he  promptly 
started  with  his  messmates  for  the  top-gallant 
Wecastle,   under  the    break    of    which  the  ward- 

§3 


84  schopy's   sketch. 

room  and  steerage  officers  had  smoking  places. 
On  this  occasion  he  had  been  invited  to  smoke  a 
fine  Havana  with  Harry. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Joe  was  exceedingly 
fond  of  smoking.  He  sometimes  practiced  it 
even  to  excess.  He  can  hardly  be  expected  to 
hold  a  lien  on  all  the  good  habits.  But  we  can 
safely  say  that  smoking  was  the  worst  habit  he 
had.  He  had  provided  himself  with  a  monstrous 
meerschaum  pipe,  whose  complexion  he  was  so 
anxious  to  change  that,  in  his  effort  to  do  so,  he 
had  impaired  his  own,  and  was  as  yellow  as  his 
pipe  for  hours  together.  But  we  must  overlook 
this  fault  in  our  hero,  since  we  know  that  in  the 
Army  and  Navy  a  very  young  officer  is  not 
expected  to  be  perfect  in  everything. 

Joe  would  gladly  have  given  himself  up  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  splendid  evening,  but  his  com- 
rades would  not  permit  it.  He  had  no  sooner 
taken  note  of  the  light  which  was  falling  in  a  kind 
of  pink  mist,  and  the  delicious  quiet  which  had 
settled  on  sea  and  shore,  before  his  attention  was 
attracted  by  the  conversation  going  on  around 
him  with  no  little  vivacity. 

Hubbins  was  taking  Swem  to  task  for  having 
declined  an  invitation  to  some  social  affair  or 
other,  to  which  all  the  cadets  had  been  invited. 
"  What  did  the  Government  put  you  in  brass  but- 
tons   for  ? "    he    said.      Then,    without    waiting    a 


schopy's   sketch.  85 

reply,  he  went  on  :  "  What  for  ?  Why,  to  make  a 
plaything  of  you.  You're  a  Government  toy. 
Your  business  is  to  amuse  the  girls  of  the 
country.  Failing  in  this,  you  are  as  much  out  of 
place  in  the  Navy  as  an  Irishman  under  a  palm- 
tree." 

The  day  before,  Hubbins  had  seen  a  son  of 
Erin  seated  at  the  foot  of  a  palm-tree,  in  transit  to 
some  Newport  conservatory.  The  incongruity  of 
this  relation  had  greatly  excited  his  sense  of  the 
ludicrous. 

"There's  Coverly,"  he  continued,  with  such 
rapidity  of  utterance  that  his  breath  came  and 
went  with  an  asphyxiated  sound  ;  "you  can't  keep 
him  aboard  ship.  Catch  him  getting  left  on  an 
invitation  to  anything.  If  he  did,  in  the  language 
of  the  immortal  Thackeray,  he'd  'ask  to  be 
asked'." 

"Go  slow,  Hubbins,"  said  Austey.  "You  know 
what  Coverly  did  this  morning." 

"You'd  better  let  up  on  our  old  Schopy,  too!" 
exclaimed  Harry,  giving  Swem  a  pat  on  the 
shoulder. 

"I'm  not  going  into  society,"  said  Swem.  "I 
haven't  the  money,  in  the  first  place  ;  and  in  the 
second  place,  I  haven't  the  inclination." 

"  I  can't  see  why  you  cannot  go  into  society, 
and  have  a  pretty  good  time,  too,  on  nine  hundred 
and  fifty  a  year,"  said  Hubbins. 


86  SCHOPYS    SKETCH. 

"Well,  I'm  hard  up,  as  it  is,  all  the  time." 

"Hard  up!  What  have  you  done  with  your 
two  months'  advance  ?  " 

"Spent  most  of  it  for  clothes." 

"Clothes,"  said  Joe,  "are  Schopy's  weakness." 

"Yes;  and  every  other  cadet's,"  observed  Hub- 
bins,  a  little  spitefully. 

"  Hubbins  can't  give  the  cadets  a  rest,"  re- 
marked Arlington. 

"The  idea,"  proceeded  Hubbins,  "of  trusting 
boys  with  such  a  salary.  I  never  knew  a  cadet 
who  didn't  need  his  grandmother  to  tell  him  how 
to  spend  his  money." 

"Perhaps  you  can  fill  her  place,"  interposed 
Coverly,  who  was  watching  to  get  in  a  word. 

"Well,  well,"  resumed  Hubbins,  paying  no 
attention  to  Coverly,  "we  must  get  him  ashore. 
Society  can't  do  without  him,  and  he  can't  do 
without  society.  Why,  some  day  he'll  have  to 
dance  with  the  Queen  of  Greece.  We  must  get 
him  in  training  for  that  event.  Oh !  to  dance 
with  a  queen.  Fitting  consummation  to  the  life  of 
a  naval  hero."  And  Hubbins  took  a  spin  around 
the  forecastle,  greatly  to  the  merriment  of  the 
steerage  officers. 

"You'd  better  look  out  for  our  old  Schopy," 
said  Harry,  as  Swem  vanished  from  the  company. 
"He's  gone  below  to  sketch  you  dancing  with  a 
queen  ;  and  he'll  pick  his  queen,  too." 


schopy's   sketch.  87 

"  Oh  !  he  adds  art  to  his  numerous  accomplish- 
ments, does  he?"  said  Hubbins,  in  a  tone  of  sar- 
casm, not  relishing  the  turn  things  had  taken. 

"Hubbins  waltzing  with  a  queen,"  shouted 
Coverly.  And  he  proceeded  to  mimic  Hubbins' 
probable  attitude  and  movements  on  that  unique 
occasion. 

A  roar  of  laughter  accompanied  Coverly's  ludi- 
crous mimicry.  As  usual,  Hubbins  grew  very 
red  in  the  face,  and  seemed  debating  with  himself 
whether  he  ought  to  join  the  general  hilarity,  or 
explode  in  anger.  To  the  surprise  of  everybody, 
he  remained  quiet,  and  Joe  felt  that  perhaps  they 
were  a  little  hard  on  him.  It  was  not  long,  how- 
ever, before  he  was  off  on  another  tack,  indulg- 
ing in  some  highly  vociferous,  if  not  intelligent 
opinions. 

Weary  of  this  rough  loquacity,  Joe  turned  his 
attention  to  the  wardroom  officers.  They  were 
smoking  on  the  starboard  side.  One  of  them  was 
endeavoring  to  thrill  a  solitary  listener  with  some 
adventure  or  other  he  had  had  in  Corea.  Another 
was  detailing  a  humorous  affair  happening  under 
his  own  cognizance,  which  account  seemed  to 
fairly  revel  in  French  words  and  phrases ;  so 
much  so,  indeed,  that  Joe  was  in  doubt  as  to 
which  language  had  the  upper  hand  with  him, 
French  or  English.  Finally  Mr.  Moncrief  and 
Mr.   Bloomsbury  were  hammering   away  on  light 


55  SCHOPY  S     SKETCH. 

and  heavy  armor  for  ships ;  and,  Mr.  Moncrief 
growing  very  warm,  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  with  charm- 
ing good  nature,  closed  the  discussion  by  intro- 
ducing his  favorite  metaphor.  "Well,"  said  he, 
alluding  to  the  great  point  of  difference  between 
them,  "you  may  stand  by  your  halliards,  but  I'll 
stick  to  the  down-hauls  !  " 

Joe  got  up,  and  began  to  pace  back  and  forth 
along  the  deck.  Most  of  the  crew  had  come  on 
deck  to  enjoy  the  early  twilight,  and  the  forecastle 
was  as  lively  as  it  well  could  be.  A  space  had 
been  cleared  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  deck,  in 
which  a  number  of  sailor  lads  had  embraced,  and 
to  the  harsh  scraping  of  a  violin,  were  whirling  in 
a  merry  waltz.  Seated  on  one  of  the  chain  bits 
close  by,  was  an  old  tar,  who  was  singing  a 
pathetic  song  in  a  squeaky,  quavering  voice, 
which,  to  Joe's  surprise,  as  he  himself  was  highly 
amused,  dashed  a  little  spray,  as  sailors  say,  into 
several  of  the  listeners'  eyes.  At  the  port  cat- 
head, a  coterie  of  ordinary  seamen  were  settling 
some  dispute  or  other,  with  the  gravity  of  a  bench 
of  justices.  Almost  in  Joe's  ear,  a  tall,  raw-boned 
sailor  was  giving  an  account  of  his  domestic  trials. 
He  set  forth  very  graphically  how  he  was  driven 
by  a  quarrelsome  wife  into  old  Neptune's  arms  for 
refuge.  "She's  a  reguler  whale,  ain't  she?"  said 
one  of  his  auditors.  "She  is,  and  she  isn't,"  was 
the  rejoinder.      "She's  all  jaw,  but  no  blubber." 


schopy's   sketch.  89 

A  roar  of  laughter  followed  this  characteriza- 
tion. Joe  turned  away,  only  to  have  his  attention 
directed  to  old  Binder.  He  was  leaning  on  the 
breech  of  a  gun,  and  while  biting  industriously  at 
his  pipe-stem,  as  if  what  he  was  saying  went 
against  the  grain,  he  was  uttering  what  Joe  took 
to  be  sentiments  of  condolement  in  an  apprentice- 
boy's  ear.  The  boy,  it  seemed,  had  settled  him- 
self comfortably  during  working  hours,  in  a  num- 
ber of  forbidden  places.  He  was  complaining 
bitterly  over  the  informal  manner  in  which  he  had 
been  obliged  to  vacate  them.  "I  can't  sit  down  a 
minute,"  he  said,  "without  somebody  comin'  along 
an'  singin'  out  :  '  Git  outen  that  port '  ;  '  Git  off  en 
that  gun  carriage '  ;  '  Don't  you  know  better'n  to 
sit  in  a  gangway,  you  lubber  ? '  What's  a  feller 
to  do?" 

"  Take  my  advice,  young  feller,"  said  Binder, 
"an'  do  nothin'  aboard  ship  as  is  comfortable." 

With  a  smile,  Joe  walked  aft.  Suddenly  his 
attention  was  arrested  by  the  sound  as  of  some 
one  reading,  in  between  the  smoke-stack  and  the 
sailing-launch.  As  nobody  could  be  reading  at 
that  hour  without  a  light,  Joe  peeped  in  to  see 
who  could  be  guilty  of  burning  a  candle  on  deck, 
where  only  covered  lights  are  allowed.  Not 
a  glimmer  could  he  discern,  but  he  could  just 
make  out  in  the  very  dim  light,  the  figures  of  a 
man  and  two  apprentices.      The  boys  were  prone 


90  SCHOPY  S    SKETCH. 

upon  the  deck,  their  mouths  wide  open,  listening 
to  an  exceedingly  dramatic  recital  from  some 
trashy  novel.  The  performance  was  made  most 
grotesque  by  the  man's  peculiar  accent  and  pro- 
nunciation. A  sentence  or  two  fixed  itself  in  Joe's 
memory.  With  an  evident  desire  for  theatrical 
effects  upon  his  young  hearers,  the  man  repeated : 
"'Villyun!  villyun  ! '  he  cried,  as  he  clasped  his 
bride  to  his  breast.  '  Stand  back,  sir  !  stand  back  ! ' 
exclaimed  she,  in  all  the  ardjure  of  her  Southern 
tem-per-a-ment."  Whether  the  bride  addressed 
the  villian  or  her  husband,  Joe  could  not  quite 
make  out.  But  the  man's  remarkable  memory 
surprised  him.  He  was  evidently  repeating  word 
for  word  what  he  had  read. 

No  sooner  had  Joe  got  back  to  the  top-gallant 
forecastle  than  he  was  forced  to  listen  to  a  sharp 
discussion  going  on  among  a  group  of  petty  offi- 
cers. The  debate  was  on  the  best  method  of  get- 
ting work  out  of  a  ship's  company.  There  was  a 
great  variety  of  opinions.  A  boatswain's  mate, 
with  a  voice  as  shrill  as  his  whistle,  insisted  that 
sailors  must  be  "druv"  like  cattle.  "It's  '  nag- 
gingness '  as  does  it,"  he  concluded. 

"No,  it  ain't,"  said  the  old  foremastman.  "I 
repudiates  the  insinnivation." 

"You  may  not  think  so,"  was  the  reply,  "but 
others  does." 

But  perhaps  Joe  was  quite  as  much  amused  over 


SCHOPV  S     SKETCH.  9 1 

an  imposing  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  wardroom 
steward,  a  native  of  Madeira,  to  express  in  English 
some  fine  sentiment  touching  the  beautiful  even- 
ing. At  the  first  unmeaning  vocable,  a  wave  of 
grammatical  scorn  swept  around  the  forecastle. 
Cries  of  "string  him  up  to  the  yard-arm"  caused 
the  poor  steward  to  gesticulate  a  wild  and  angry 
protest,  and  in  sheer  mortification,  to  dive  below. 
If  these  men  murdered  the  King's  English  them- 
selves, they  would  allow  no  one  to  mutilate  the 
corpse,  as  has  been  said  by  some  clever  man. 

Two  or  three  times  Joe  reached  either  extreme 
of  his  promenade,  lost  to  everything  but  his  own 
thoughts.  Very  shortly,  however,  he  observed  an 
overgrown,  lubberly  boy  hanging  heavily  to  a  fore- 
sheet,  and  staring  at  him  as  if  he  were  the  latest 
ornithological  specimen  from  Brazil.  As  Joe  came 
near  him,  he  touched  his  cap  and  asked,  "  Kin  I 
git  a  book  off  en  you,  sir  ?  " 

"Isn't  there  a  library  on  board?"  replied  Joe, 
with  but  little  warmth  of  manner,  for  the  boy  was 
not  prepossessing  in  either  looks  or  address. 

"Yes,  sir;  but  the  liberian  won't  let  me  have 
no  books." 

"Why  is  that?" 

"  Coz  I  tuk  one  out  and  couldn't  see  no  sense 
to  it." 

"Well,  why  didn't  you  return  it,  and  get 
another? " 


92  SCHOPY  S    SKETCH. 

"  Oh  !  I  thought  it  was  no  good,  so  I  chucked 
it  overboard,  an'  he  won't  let  me  have  no  more." 

"What  book  was  it?"  continued  Joe,  quite 
amazed  at  the  boy's  coolness  and  assurance. 

"It  was  called  Danill  somethin'  or  other." 

"Daniel  Boone?"  interrogated  Joe. 

"No,"  said  the  boy  in  disdain.  "What  d'yer 
take  me  fer  ?  " 

"Perhaps  it  was  Daniel  Deronda,"  said  Joe, 
beginning  to  grow  amused. 

"  Yes,  that's  it  ;  Danill  Dorindy.  It  was  all 
about  Jews.  I  don't  want  to  read  about  no  Jews. 
I  asked  for  a  book  on  pirates  or  Injuns.  The 
liberian  want  corteous  to  me.  Said  I  looked  as  I 
needed  ballast  or  sand  or  somethin'  like  that,  an' 
he'd  advise  solid  readin'.  I  didn't  like  what  he 
said  to  me,  so  I  tuk  it  out  on  him.  There  ain't 
much  civility  in  the  Navy,  sir." 

"  Do  you  expect  civil  treatment  if  you  throw 
books  overboard  ?  It's  a  wonder  they  didn't  clap 
you  in  the  brig  !  " 

"Oh!  they  did,  sir — three  days.  But  I  likes 
that.  I  don't  git  no  naggin'  in  there,  an'  I  don't 
have  to  do  no  work,"  he  added,  with  a  grin.  "But 
a  man-o'-war's  no  place  for  a  smart  American  boy, 
sir." 

Joe  didn't  think  it  was  much  of  a  place  for  the 
peculiar  kind  of  smartness  before  him,  but  he  con- 
tinued, "What  made  you  ship,  then?" 


SCHOPY  S     SKETCH.  93 

"  First  of  all,  I  wanted  to  fight  fer  my  country. 
Then  I  thought  it  'ud  be  better'n  bein'  kicked 
round  a  stable.  That's  where  I  was.  Why,  sir, 
it  got  so  that  I  couldn't  pass  a  hoss  but  he'd  up 
an'  kick  me.  It  seemed  like  as  if  everythin' 
wanted  to  kick  me.     So  I  come  into  the  Navy." 

"And  you  don't  find  it  any  better  here?" 
laughed  Joe,  doubtful  whether  this  boy  would  not 
encounter  the  same  propensity  for  calcitration  in 
every  creature  endowed  with  a  heel. 

"  I  don't  expect  to  find  it  no  better  nowhere, 
sir,  an'  I'm  jest  going  to  kick,  too." 

This  was  accompanied  by  such  a  comically 
retaliative  look,  that  Joe  burst  into  a  hearty  laugh. 
"What's  your  name  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  Enick  Long.  My  father  druv  the  stage,  an' 
hired  me  out  to  work  in  the  stable  of  the  proprie- 
ter.  Said  I  wouldn't  git  no  scoolin',  an'  I  might 
jest  as  well  be  there.  But  what  made  me  mad- 
dest was,  he  tuk  all  the  pay.  Why,  sir,  he  only 
giv  me  five  cents  the  Fourth  o'  July,  an'  I  a 
earnin'  a  barril  o'  flour  a  month  for  the  family, 
besides  my  own  board.  The  hossler  ust  ter  lick 
me,  an'  I  turned  to  an'  licked  the  boy  as  was 
younger'n  me.  I  couldn't  stan'  it,  so  I  up'n  runs 
away." 

Joe  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  letting  him 
go  on,  and  asked,  "Where  did  you  fetch  up?  " 

"  In  Boston,  sir.      On  the  way,  I  stopped  in  the 


94  SCHOPY  S    SKETCH. 

evenin'  at  a  house,  an'  asked  if  they'd  put  me  up. 
They  said  they  wouldn't  put  up  no  boy  tramps.  '  I 
ain't  a  boy  tramp,'  I  said,  so  I  jest  tuk  a  chair  an' 
sot  down  behind  the  stove  in  the  kitchen.  Says  I 
to  myself,  if  you  git  me  out  o'  this  ere  house  afore 
mornin',  you're  smarter'n  I  be.  Well,  they  give 
me  some  supper,  an'  I  sot  round  till  nine  o'clock. 
'You  jest  git,  now,'  says  they;  'we  hain't  no  bed 
fer  yer.'  'I  don't  want  no  bed,'  says  I.  '  What'll 
yer  do  ? '  says  the  woman.  '  If  you'll  git  that  baby 
out  o'  that  ar'  cradle,  I'll  show  yer  what  I'll  do,' 
says  I.  'I'll  sleep  in  that.'  'All  right,'  says  the 
woman,  larfin'  as  if  she'd  die,  an'  pullin'  the  baby 
out,  'git  right  in.'  I  tumbled  in,  an'  they  larfed 
till  the  tears  run  down  their  faces." 

"I  should  think  they  would  have,"  said  Joe, 
affected  in  the  same  manner  by  the  boy's  narra- 
tive. And  finding  Long's  way  of  telling  his  story 
inimitable,  he  asked,  "Did  you  find  the  cradle 
comfortable? " 

"  The  part  o'  me  that  was  in,  did,  sir.  But  I 
overlapped.  The  biggest  part  o'  me  hung  over 
the  rail  —  I  mean  the  foot,"  said  Long,  correcting 
his  nautical  with  a  nursery  phrase.  "  But  warn't  I 
scared,  though,  in  the  morning.  When  I  woke 
up,  I  didn't  know  where  I  was.  I  saw  the  top  o' 
the  cradle,  an'  I  thought  it  must  be  a  coffin  I  was 
in,  an'  that  I  was  dead."  And  Long  paused  with 
great   solemnity.      "  Howsumever,  as   I   was  goin' 


SCHOPY  S     SKETCH.  95 

to  say,  I  got  to  Boston  all  right.  I  told  'em  on 
the  Wabash  that  I  was  a  poor  bootblack  as  had 
no  father,  an'  no  mother,  an'  no  gardeen.  By 
gracious !  but  they  tuk  me  quick,  sir."  Here 
Enoch  looked  at  himself  as  if  he  were  a  young 
Hercules  or  an  Adonis,  Joe  couldn't  tell  which- 
Then  dropping  his  voice  to  a  mysterious  whisper, 
he  went  on  :  "  But  I  jest  wants  to  say  to  yer,  sir, 
that  I  likes  the  looks  on  yer,  an'  I  don't  want  to 
see  no  jobs  a  puttin'  up  on  yer;  an'  there  is  a  job 
a  puttin'  up  on  yer  to-night,  sir." 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Joe,  his.  curiosity  greatly 
excited. 

"  Oh  !  I  won't  tell  yer,  sir.  I  never  tells  no 
tales." 

Joe  questioned  this  strange  boy  no  further,  but 
made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  be  on  the  alert 
for  anything  that  might  happen  during  his  watch. 

A  few  moments  later  he  went  below.  He 
entered  the  steerage  very  quietly ;  so  quietly, 
indeed,  that  Swem,  who  was  greatly  absorbed  in 
something  or  other,  did  not  notice  his  approach. 
Swem  was  sitting  sidewise  on  the  transom,  his 
back  toward  Joe,  with  a  large  sketch  book  open 
on  his  knee,  over  a  page  of  which,  in  the  light 
that  fell  from  a  small  port,  his  pencil  was  fairly 
flying. 

Joe  crept  up  and  glanced  over  his  shoulder. 
He  saw  that  he  was  fulfilling  Harry's  prediction. 


g6  schopy's   sketch. 

He  was  sketching  Hubbins  engaged  in  a  round 
dance  with  a  queen.  Joe  noticed  that  the  queen 
was  very  fat,  and  uncommonly  brown.  She  did 
not  look  like  the  queen  of  a  civilized  country, 
though  her  costume  was  European.  Evidently 
she  had  once  been  uncivilized,  but  was  not  so 
now.  Hubbins  had  received  a  good  many  humor- 
ous touches.  Taken  all  in  all,  the  sketch  showed 
that  Swem  was  much  more  at  home  with  the 
pencil  than  he  would  ever  be  with  the  speaking 
trumpet. 

Suddenly  Joe's  shadow  fell  across  the  page- 
Slamming  the  book  together  with  a  frightened 
look,  Swem  jumped  to  his  feet.  When,  however, 
he  saw  who  it  was,  his  expression  of  alarm  changed 
to  one  of  amusement.  Going  up  to  the  port,  he 
offered  to  show  Joe  the  sketch  in  a  better  light. 

"It's  a  pity,  Schopy,"  said  Joe,  in  sincere  admi- 
ration of  Swem's  talent,  "to  smother  a  gift  like 
yours  in  tar." 

"I  hate  the  Navy,"  said  Swem.  "I'd  like  to 
get  on  an  illustrated  paper." 

"  Schopy,"  continued  Joe,  laughing  at  the  genu- 
ine humor  of  the  sketch,  "  caricaturing  is  danger- 
ous business.  You  must  be  careful  not  to  let 
Hubbins  see  this  sketch.  He  doesn't  like  cadets 
any  too  well,  as  it  is." 

"I'll  look  out  and  not  let  him  see  it,"  replied 
Swem,  closing  the  book. 


SCHOPY  S     SKETCH.  97 

But  he  was  too  late.  Coverly  had  been  watch- 
ing them  from  the  outside  through  the  slats.  He 
now  dashed  into  the  steerage,  and  snatching  the 
book  from  Swem's  hand,  was  half-way  to  the  fore- 
castle before  either  of  the  cadets  had  recovered 
from  their  surprise. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A    DESPERATE    ENCOUNTER. 

THE  cadets  quickly  followed  Coverly.  Swem, 
if  possible,  to  rescue  his  sketch,  and  Joe  to 
go  on  watch,  for  eight  bells  were  now  striking. 
But  on  the  way  to  the  forecastle,  Joe  was  brought 
to  a  momentary  halt.  Strange  sounds,  coming 
from  the  opposite  steerage,  fell  upon  his  ear.  He 
could  see  into  the  place  through  the  open  door, 
and  also  through  the  slats,  where  the  baize  cur- 
tains had  been  drawn  aside  to  let  in  the  air.  Two 
sailor-lads  seemed  to  have  taken  possession  of  it. 
They  had  spread  out  upon  the  table  something 
that  looked  like  a  large  blanket,  and  were  engaged 
in  preparing  some  kind  of  a  bundle,  the  contents 
of  which  Joe  was  unable  to  identify  in  the  dim 
light.  The  lads  were  working  with  a  will,  in 
about  the  same  manner  as  they  would  do  had 
they  been  trying  to  save  their  effects  from  a  fire. 

Joe  could  not  stop  to  investigate  the  matter, 
for  it  was  high  time  that  he  reported  on  deck  for 
the  duties  of  his  watch.  And  no  sooner  had  he 
reported  and  started  for  the    forecastle,  than  all 

98 


A    DESPERATE     ENCOUNTER.  99 

thought  of  the  affair  disappeared  from  his  mind. 
That  part  of  the  ship  was  the  scene  of  no  little 
excitement,  at  the  bottom  of  which  was  Swem's 
unlucky  sketch.  Coverly  had  promptly  put  it  on 
exhibition,  and  he  was  surrounded  by  a  group  of 
officers,  who  were  talking  and  laughing  over  it  in 
an  hilarious  manner.  They  were  unitedly  and 
vociferously  pronouncing  "  Hubbins  waltzing  with 
a  queen,"  as  by  all  odds  the  best  thing  of  the 
season. 

As  for  Hubbins,  he  was  consumed  with  wrath. 
One  glance  at  the  sketch,  and  he  had  turned  upon 
the  unfortunate  Svvem.  He  asked  him  how  he 
dared  to  caricature  him  dancing  with  a  "  nigger," 
and  heaped  upon  him  such  opprobrium  that  for 
the  moment  poor  Swem  felt  entirely  crushed. 
As  Hubbins'  adjectives  multiplied,  Swem  began 
to  wonder  if  hanging  were  not,  after  all,  too  good 
for  him  ;  and  he  would  have  been  inclined  to  agree 
with  that  irate  gentleman  as  to  the  baseness  of 
the  deed,  had  not  Hubbins'  anger  reached  an 
abrupt  and  alarming  crisis.  All  at  once  Swem 
felt  himself  seized  by  the  ears  and  swayed  back 
and  forth  with  more  than  the  swiftness,  if  not 
with  the  regularity,  of  a  pendulum,  and  when  Joe 
reached  the  forecastle  poor  Schopy  looked  as  if 
he  were  in  the  clutches  of  Apollyon.  As  Hubbins 
caught  sight  of  Joe  advancing  with  quick  step,  he 
stopped  sawing  the  air  with  his  victim,  but  contin- 


IOO  A    DESPERATE    ENCOUNTER. 

ued  to  hold  him  fast  by  the  ears.  It  was  evident 
from  the  alertness  of  our  hero's  movement  that 
he  intended  becoming  a  party  to  the  affair.  He 
seemed  to  have  grown  two  or  three  inches  taller, 
and  the  lightning  in  his  eye  was  no  playful  gleam, 
as  he  told  Hubbins  to  take  his  hands  off  Swem. 

"I'll  thrash  him  within  an  inch  of  his  life," 
said  Hubbins,  with  an  asthmatic  struggle  for  his 
breath. 

"  Let  go  of  him,"  commanded  Joe. 

Whatever  it  was  that  caused  him  to  do  so, 
whether  a  motive  of  prudence  or  the  conviction 
that  Swem  had  been  sufficiently  punished,  it  is 
certain  that  Swem's  release  instantly  followed 
Joe's  peremptory  command.  "There!"  continued 
Joe,  "don't  you  lay  your  finger  on  him  again." 

The  next  few  minutes  Hubbins  devoted  en- 
tirely to  the  recovery  of  his  breath. 

"  Come,  Schopy,"  said  Joe,  as  he  started  aft, 
"you'd  better  go  below." 

"  He'll  come  down  there  and  have  it  out  with 
me,"  said  Swem,  in  a  frightened  whisper. 

"  No,  he  won't.  He'll  carry  it  no  further.  But, 
Schopy,"  continued  Joe  very  kindly,  "you  must 
not  caricature  your  shipmates  any  more.  Now 
that  I  think  of  it,  you'd  better  assure  Hubbins 
that  what  you  did  was  in  pure  fun,  and  the  last 
thing  you  thought  of  was  hurting  his  feelings." 

"  I'll    defer    my    explanation    till    my    ears    get 


A    DESPERATE     ENCOUNTER.  IOI 

well,"  said  Swem  laconically,  carefully  feeling  of 
his  organs  of  hearing. 

"They  do  look  as  if  delay  would  be  justified," 
returned  Joe,  laughing  in  spite  of  himself.  "But 
I'm  very  sorry  for  what's  happened.  I  think  I 
owe  Hubbins  an  apology  myself.  I  might  have 
made  him  let  go  of  you  without  showing  fight." 

Joe's  indignation  at  Swem's  rough  treatment 
had  already  abated,  and  his  kind  heart  was  finding 
excuses  for  Hubbins.  Had  not  his  duties  pre- 
vented, it  is  quite  probable  that  he  would  have 
gone  forward  instantly,  and  sought  reconciliation 
for  himself  and  Swem. 

Having  gotten  Swem  safely  below,  Joe  turned 
his  attention  to  the  duties  of  his  watch.  He  mus- 
tered the  anchor  watch  at  the  capstan,  looked 
after  the  lights  aloft,  carefully  inspected  the  boats, 
bestowing  particular  attention  to  the  equipment 
of  the  life-boat.  Should  it  become  necessary  to 
call  away  any  or  all  of  the  boats  in  his  watch,  he 
desired  to  have  everything  in  readiness.  Satisfy- 
ing himself  that  no  detail  had  been  neglected,  he 
next  took  a  look  around  the  harbor  to  ascertain  if 
there  were  anything  about  that  could  give  trouble 
in  the  night.  If  the  Daybreak  had  been  a  gold 
mine  in  his  charge,  he  could  hardly  have  felt  a 
greater  sense  of  responsibility,  or  exercised  a 
more  vigilant  care. 

When  at  length  he  returned  to  the  forecastle,  he 


102  A    DESPERATE     ENCOUNTER. 

found  it  deserted  by  everybody  but  the  regular 
watch.  He  had  hoped  for  another  interview  with 
Long,  but  tattoo  had  sounded,  and  his  would-be 
tutelary  genius  was  sleeping  as  soundly  in  his 
hammock  as  he  would  have  clone  on  his  turtle-back 
straw  bed  at  home.  The  utmost  stillness  brooded 
over  the  ship.  So  absolutely  motionless  did  she 
seem  that  if  any  one  had  undertaken  to  demon- 
strate that  she  was  only  a  picture  painted  upon  the 
background  of  this  beautiful  night,  Joe  would  have 
been  indisposed  to  contradiction. 

But  he  had  been  ordered  by  Mr.  Bloomsbury, 
the  officer  of  the  deck,  to  keep  a  bright  lookout 
for  lights.  The  other  ships  of  the  North  Atlantic 
Squadron  were  expected  at  Newport  that  night, 
and  it  was  hoped  that  they  would  come  in  during 
the  first  watch.  So  Joe  took  up  his  beat  on  the 
top-gallant  forecastle,  pausing  at  each  turn  to  scan 
the  far-away  horizon. 

But  presently  he  allowed  himself  to  be  diverted. 
One  of  the  great  steamers  of  the  Fall  River  Line 
was  passing.  What  a  splendid  vision,  Joe  thought, 
as  she  went  flashing  by.  How  nimbly  she  hand- 
led herself  in  the  narrow  channel,  picking  her  way 
as  by  instinct,  bending  to  each  turn,  and  finally 
gracefully  careening  to  the  last  miniature  cape, 
passing  which,  she  swept  majestically  on.  Years 
before  Joe  had  formed  a  habit  of  introspection  and 
moralizing,    and   the   mood    was    upon    him    now. 


A    DESPERATE    ENCOUNTER.  103 

"Ships  are  wonderful  things,"  he  said  to  himself. 
"May  I  be  as  true  to  some  noble  purpose  in  life 
as  a  ship  is  to  its  course,"  he  added.  Then  he 
reflected,  as  ships  have  sun  and  stars  to  guide 
them,  so  he  had  great  principles  and  illustrious 
examples  to  guide  him. 

A  little  moralizing  is  not  bad,  especially  when 
it  goes  no  farther  than  one's  self;  and  Joe  was 
careful  that  his  moralizing  should  go  no  farther 
than  himself.  But  he  had  many  times  remarked 
that  it  immediately  preceded,  in  himself,  at  least,  a 
very  unpleasant  state  of  mind.  This  was  the  case 
now.  The  first  thing  that  entered  his  thoughts 
after  the  above  meditations,  was  Schopy's  sketch 
of  Hubbins  waltzing  with  a  queen.  This  recalled 
another  sketch  made  years  before.  Then  followed 
a  whole  troop  of  thoughts  and  memories  of  its 
girlish  author.  And  this  would  have  been  exceed- 
ingly pleasant  but  for  just  one  thing,  and  that 
was  what  Joe  had  been  trying  to  keep  a  secret, 
even  from  himself. 

Just  here,  while  the  stars  grow  brighter,  and 
the  shores  gloomier,  and  the  ship  more  silent, 
Joe's  secret  may  as  well  be  confided  to  the  readers 
of  this  book. 

He  had  made  a  startling  discovery.  It  was  of 
no  less  magnitude  than  that  there  existed  in  him 
a  tender  feeling  for  Katie  Aston.  We  can  see 
how  this  was  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world, 


104  A    DESPERATE    ENCOUNTER. 

but  strangely  enough,  Joe  could  not.  He  was  not 
aware  that  with  a  cadet  falling  in  love  is  almost  a 
condition  of  good  seamanship.  To  be  sure,  he 
had  never  known  a  cadet  who  had  not  betrayed 
this  weakness,  but  he  had  never  till  now  sus- 
pected himself  of  like  vulnerability.  He  was  just 
as  much  surprised  by  his  discovery,  but  in  no 
sense  as  elated,  as  a  botanist  would  be  at  finding 
an  entirely  new  and  original  plant.  Joe  actually 
regarded  himself  as  culpable  for  having  lost  his 
heart  to  his  young  friend,  and  he  was  using  his 
best  endeavor  to  destroy,  root  and  branch,  this 
dangerous  exotic,  as  he  regarded  it,  that  had 
sprung  up  within  him. 

Joe's  state  of  heart  seemed  to  himself  entirely 
incongruous  and  uncalled  for.  In  the  first  place, 
so  he  reasoned,  if  he  were  a  prince  he  never  could 
be  good  enough  for  Katie  Aston.  This  was  a 
very  healthy  symptom,  though  he  was  not  aware 
of  it.  Then  he  asked  himself  if  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Aston  were  to  know  of  his  feeling  toward  Katiev 
would  they  not  regard  him  as  most  ungrate- 
ful and  unchivalrous  —  as  having  abused  their 
confidence  and  hospitality  ?  What  right  had  he 
to  visit  them  and  form  an  attachment  for  their 
only  daughter  right  under  their  own  roof,  and  at 
such  ridiculously  short  notice  ?  If  they  had  sus- 
pected anything  of  this  sort  they  would  never 
have  asked    him    to  visit    them.       Besides,   there 


A    DESPERATE     ENCOUNTER.  IO5 

was  a  reasonable  probability  that  Ned  Brent- 
ford, with  the  sanction  of  her  parents,  too,  had 
already  won  Katie's  affections. 

Furthermore,  Joe  cherished  the  conviction  that 
there  is  something  akin  to  unmanliness  and  very 
much  of  selfishness  in  the  desire  to  take  a  girl 
like  Katie  Aston,  born  and  bred  amid  lux- 
ury, into  a  life  of  comparative  self-denial  and 
poverty.  If  by  any  possibility  he  were  able  to 
win  such  a  girl,  what  had  he  to  offer  her  ?  Joe 
was  a  very  honest  young  fellow,  and  he  regarded 
himself,  under  the  circumstances,  as  having  not 
the  least  right  in  the  world  to  indulge  any  feeling 
toward  Katie  save  that  of  simple  friendship. 

But  he  had  one  comfort  in  it  all.  Nobody  knew 
anything  about  it  but  himself,  or  ever  would  know. 
This  was  a  special  consolation.  As  he  now  swept 
the  horizon  with  his  glass,  watching  for  the  squad- 
ron's lights,  he  said  to  himself  that  he  could  let 
this  new  feeling  wither  away,  and  no  one  would 
ever  be  the  wiser  for  it.  It  would  perish  as  the 
secret  of  his  own  breast. 

All  at  once,  however,  a  horrible  suspicion  came 
upon  him.  It  brought  with  it  a  great  fear.  One 
other  knew  about  this  secret.  Mrs.  Pepper  had 
also  made  the  discovery.  Everything  mysterious 
in  her  conduct  was  now  as  clear  as  day.  She  had 
known  him  better  than  he  had  known  himself. 
He  recalled  her  rude  opposition  to  his  riding  out 


106  A    DESPERATE     ENCOUNTER. 

with  Katie,  her  distrust  of  him,  her  secret  enmity 
toward  him.  It  was  enough  ;  she  had  seen  every- 
thing from  the  beginning.  And  knowing  what 
she  did,  she  would,  of  course,  "let  the  cat  out  of 
the  bag."  The  Astons  would  erase  him  from  their 
books.  Their  friendship  for  him  was  at  an  end. 
This  theory  about  Mrs.  Pepper  seemed  absolutely 
without  a  flaw. 

As  he  turned  the  matter  over  in  his  mind,  he 
almost  groaned  aloud.  He  quickened  his  pace. 
Mrs.  Pepper  had  undoubtedly  given  him  a  setting 
out  before  his  friends.  What  could  he  do?  He 
was  certainly  in  disfavor,  if  not  in  disgrace,  with 
them.  A  long  time  he  debated  the  matter  with 
himself,  and  at  last  decided  upon  a  course  of 
action.  First  of  all,  he  would  not  call  upon  them 
for  a  very  long  time.  He  did  not  know  just  how 
long,  but  it  might  be  a  year  or  two.  Then,  hav- 
ing written  Katie  the  letter  he  had  promised,  he 
would  only  reply  in  a  formal  manner  to  such  let- 
ters as  she  or  her  father  might  occasionally  write 
him.  This  seemed  the  proper  thing  to  do,  and 
having  adopted  it  as  a  policy,  Joe  became  quite 
cheerful.  But  what  if  neither  Katie  nor  her  father 
should  write  him  again  ?  The  bare  thought  almost 
caused  a  chill. 

Finally  he  settled  with  himself  that  his  thoughts 
of  Katie  should  be  utterly  destitute  of  sentiment ; 
which  last   resolve,  we  know,  was  just  about  the 


A    DESPERATE     ENCOUNTER.  IOJ 

same  as  though  he  had  made  a  decree  that  he 
would  eat  a  whole  basketful  of  free-stone  peaches 
without  tasting  them. 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  how  much  farther  Joe 
would  have  pursued  these  startling  and  unhappy 
reflections,  had  he  not  detected  what  he  took  to  be 
the  dip  of  an  oar  at  no  great  distance  off  the  star- 
board bow.  He  peered  out  into  the  darkness, 
straining  his  ears  to  listen,  but  nothing  further 
could  he  hear.  Evidently  a  mistake,  he  thought, 
and  so  dismissed  the  matter  from  his  mind. 
Again  he  was  busy  searching  the  horizon  for 
lights,  when  the  same  sound  was  repeated,  this 
time  directly  under  the  bows.  Taking  a  quick 
look  down  into  the  water,  he  saw  two  men  in  a 
small  boat,  in  the  act  of  passing  something  on 
board  the  Daybreak,  through  the  bridle-port.  He 
had  no  sooner  got  a  good  look  at  them,  when  the 
work  was  over,  and  the  men  were  quietly  getting 
out  their  oars,  manifestly  hoping  to  steal  away 
unobserved. 

"Boat  ahoy!"  sung  out  Joe  at  the  top  of  his 
voice. 

Greatly  startled,  the  men  let  fall  their  oars,  and 
without  answering  the  challenge,  began  with  might 
and  main  to  pull  for  the  town.  Joe  ran  aft  and 
quickly  reported  the  suspicious  circumstance  to 
Mr.  Bloomsbury. 

"Smuggling  liquor,   no    doubt,"   exclaimed  Mr. 


I08  A    DESPERATE     ENCOUNTER. 

Bloomsbury,  in  the  same  breath  giving  an  order  to 
lower  the  second  whale-boat. 

"Come,  Conners,"  said  Joe,  as  he  made  up  a 
boat's  crew  from  the  men  on  deck,  "  I  want  you 
to  go  with  me." 

The  improvised  crew  sprang  for  the  davits,  and 
in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it  the  boat  was  in 
the  water,  with  the  men,  followed  by  Joe,  sliding 
down  into  her  on  the  falls. 

"  Don't  let  them  escape,"  said  Mr.  Bloomsbury, 
as  Joe  shoved  off. 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,"  came  back  from  the  boat,  and 
the  chase  began. 

Though  the  time  had  been  very  short  in  which 
the  whale-boat  was  being  manned,  it  had  afforded 
the  fugitives  opportunity  for  a  good  start.  Point- 
ing the  prow  in  the  direction  of  the  city,  Joe 
ordered  the  crew  to  give  way  strongly,  and  the 
boat  shot  off  into  the  darkness.  On  account  of 
the  click  of  the  oars  in  the  row-locks,  no  sound 
could  be  heard  from  the  other  boat.  The  whale- 
boat,  from  mere  superiority  of  numbers  must  gain 
rapidly  upon  them,  Joe  thought.  But  nothing  like 
a  boat  could  he  discover  in  the  outer  harbor,  and 
it  was  impossible  for  her  to  have  made  the  inner 
harbor. 

"  They  have  probably  crept  in  close  to  Goat 
Island,"  he  said,  "or  run  into  the  shadow  of  the 
breakwater,"  and  changing  his   course  a  little,  he 


A    DESPERATE    ENCOUNTER.  IO9 

brought  the  places  he  had  in  mind  directly  in 
view.  A  few  smart  strokes  sent  him  near  enough 
to  see  that  the  boat  had  not  sought  refuge  under 
Goat  Island  or  the  breakwater.  "Oars,"  he 
ordered. 

All  listened. 

"There's  a  boat  pulling  off  toward  Jamestown," 
eagerly  reported  Conners. 

Conners  was  all  alive  to  the  chase,  and  pulled 
and  listened  as  if  everything  depended  on  his 
sharpness  of  ear  and  might  of  muscle. 

Every  ear  was  bent  in  the  direction  indicated, 
and  presently  the  faintest  sound  of  oars  was  dis- 
tinguished way  off  toward  Conannicut 

"Give  way,"  Joe  ordered,  throwing  himself 
back  and  forward  as  he  headed  the  boat  in  the 
direction  of  the  sound.  Impelled  by  his  sharp 
orders  and  determined  spirit,  the  crew  threw  their 
weight  upon  the  oars,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they 
were  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  the  boat  at  no 
great  distance  off  the  port  beam. 

"Heave  to!"  shouted  Joe  in  a  tone  of  com- 
mand, as  he  put  the  tiller  hard  over,  bringing  the 
whale-boat  in  a  line  with  the  other. 

"What  for?"  answered  the  nearest  man  in  a 
defiant  manner. 

"You're  my  prisoners,"  said  Joe. 

"  Ha  !  ha !  "   came  back  in  a  mocking  laugh. 

By  this    time    Joe  had  brought  the  whale-boat 


IIO  A    DESPERATE     ENCOUNTER. 

alongside,  and  had  repeated  his  order  to  "  heave 
to."  As  they  could  do  no  better,  the  men  rested 
on  their  oars  and  looked  at  our  hero  as  Goliath 
might,  in  the  same  situation,  have  regarded  David, 
for  they  were  strapping  fellows. 

"What  were  you  doing  under  our  bows?"  Joe 
demanded. 

"None  of  your  business,"  was  the  ready  answer. 

"What  were  you  doing  under  our  bows?"  Joe 
repeated. 

"Fishing." 

"Why  didn't  you  answer  my  challenge,  then?" 

"  It  was  none  of  your  business  what  we  were 
doing.  This  harbor  don't  belong  to  the  United 
States  Navy.  You  feel  as  if  you  own  all  creation, 
anyway." 

"  You  were  there  under  suspicious  circum- 
stances, and  you're  my  prisoners.  I  have  orders 
to  arrest  you." 

"Let's  see  you  do  it,"  said  the  spokesman,  with 
a  fierce  oath. 

Joe  ordered  the  men  to  give  way  a  couple  of 
strokes,  then  to  trail  oars,  thus  bringing  the  gun- 
wales of  the  boats  together. 

"I  warn  you,"  said  the  man,  "if  you  get  into 
this  boat,  you're  a  dead  man." 

Here  was  certainly  a  critical  situation.  Joe 
was  unarmed,  and  the  boat  contained  nothing 
more  formidable  than  oars  and  boat-hooks.      And 


A    DESPERATE     ENCOUNTER.  I  I  I 

such  unmilitary  weapons  he  would  have  scorned 
to  use. 

"Let  me  go,  sir,"  said  Conners,  in  his  excite- 
ment putting  his  hand  on  Joe's  arm. 

"  Follow  me,"  said  Joe,  and  he  sprang  for  the 
boat. 

A  ball  whizzed  past  his  head,  and  still  another ; 
but  by  this  time  he  had  grasped  the  scoundrel's 
wrist.  At  the  same  time  Conners  seized  him  by 
the  throat,  and  flung  him  on  his  back  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  boat.  This  was  done  in  season  for 
Conners  to  plant  a  blow  between  the  eyes  of  the 
other  man,  who  had  raised  his  oar  to  strike  Joe 
down.  Joe  now  wrenched  the  revolver  out  of  the 
villain's  hand,  and  coolly  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

Fortunately  for  our  hero,  when  he  took  his  leap, 
the  boat  heeled  over  a  little  under  his  weight, 
throwing  the  man  with  the  revolver  back  on  the 
thwarts.  This  diverted  his  aim,  thus  without 
doubt,  saving  Joe's  life.  It  took  but  a  few  min- 
utes to  secure  the  prisoners,  and  get  them  into 
the  whale-boat.  Joe's  men  were  cool,  powerful 
fellows,  and  when  they  saw  him  covered  by  the 
revolver,  a  couple  of  them  seized  boat-hooks  and 
would  have  made  quick  work  with  his  antagonist 
had  not  Conners  overpowered  him.  The  work 
accomplished,  the  party  now  took  the  captured 
boat  in  tow  and  started  on  their  return,  no  little 
elated  over  their  prize. 


112  A    DESPERATE    ENCOUNTER. 

The  two  shots  had  been  heard  on  the  Daybreak, 
and  the  greatest  anxiety  was  felt  to  know  if  any- 
thing had  happened  to  any  of  the  boat's  company. 
When,  therefore,  they  marched  their  prisoners 
over  the  ship's  side,  Captain  Farradale  and  Mr. 
Moncrief  scanned  them  with  grave  countenances. 
When  they  ascertained  that  nothing  had  happened 
to  Joe  or  any  of  his  men,  they  felt  greatly  relieved. 
But  they  were  very  indignant,  when  Joe  gave 
them  an  account  of  the  capture,  at  the  audacious 
attempt  to  shoot  down  one  of  the  young  officers 
of  the  Daybreak. 

It  was  a  clear  case.  While  the  party  had  been 
absent,  the  smuggled  liquor  had  been  found.  It 
was  plain  to  Captain  Farradale  that  these  men 
were  at  the  bottom  of  all  the  trouble  he  had  been 
having  from  liquor  brought  secretly  on  board.  A 
slight  pallor  was  perceptible  in  the  culprits'  faces 
as  the  captain  said  to  them  sternly:  "We  shall 
detain  you  till  to-morrow  morning.  You  will  then 
be  handed  over  to  the  civil  authorities.  Mr.  Mon- 
crief," he  continued,  turning  to  the  executive, 
"send  them  below  under  sentry's  charge." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


BREAKING      IN      CADETS. 


AN  hour  still  remained  of  Joe's  watch.  After 
superintending  the  hoisting  of  the  whale- 
boat,  he  resumed  his  station  on  the  top-gallant 
forecastle. 

"  This  has  been  a  rather  lively  watch,"  he  said 
to  himself.  "  I  shouldn't  care  for  such  an  experi- 
ence every  night.  It  would  have  been  rather 
tame,  though,  without  the  shooting.  If  I'd  had 
the  planning  of  it  myself,  I  should  probably  have 
left  that  out.  But  now  that  it's  over  with,  I'm 
glad  it  happened.  Wonder  if  there'll  be  anything 
more  !  " 

As  he  thus  soliloquized,  a  movement  of  the 
anchor  watch  below  attracted  his  attention.  Some 
one  from  the  berth  deck  had  joined  them,  and  they 
were  talking  in  low  tones  and  giggling  with  sup- 
pressed merriment.  It  seemed  to  Joe  that  they 
were  plotting  mischief.  He  tried  to  hear  what 
they  were  saying,  but  could  only  distinguish  such 
words  as  " Doctor,"  "Cadet  of  the  watch,"  "Offi- 
cer of  the  deck,"  and  the  like.  Listen  as  he 
113 


114  BREAKING    IN    CADETS. 

would,  he  could  get  no  connecting  links.  He 
resolved  to  keep  quiet,  and  very  soon  the  plan, 
whatever  it  might  be,  was  agreed  upon,  and  not 
another  word  was  spoken.  Joe  had  thought  that 
possibly  the  liquor  smuggling  was  what  Long 
meant  in  his  warning,  but  here  was  another  clue. 
This  might  be  the  "job  that  was  a  puttin'  up  on 
him." 

Meanwhile,  the  Daybreak  swung  at  her  anchor, 
and  Joe  was  obliged  to  go  aft  to  fufill  his  duty  as 
lookout.  After  the  excitement  he  had  passed 
through,  he  found  this  very  stupid.  The  stillness 
began  to  have  a  soporific  effect  upon  him  ;  several 
times  he  caught  himself  yawning,  and  he  wished 
heartily  that  eight  bells  would  strike,  when  he 
would  be  relieved  of  his  watch.  Ashamed  of  his 
drowsiness,  he  took  summary  measures  with  him- 
self to  overcome  it,  and  he  brought  himself  in 
sharp  contact  with  the  pin  rail.  Happening  to 
glance  forward  as  he  did  so,  he  saw  a  sight  that 
in  itself  would  have  instantly  roused  him  from  his 
partially  comatose  state. 

Something  very  white  and  unshapely  was  slowly 
ascending  to  a  point  under  the  fore-yard.  It  was 
moving  up  apparently  without  aid  from  any  source 
whatever.  For  a  moment  it  would  hang  sus- 
pended in  the  air ;  then,  in  seeming  defiance  of 
the  law  of  gravitation,  it  would  again  go  slowly 
upward.     It  had  a  sort  of  unearthly  look,  for  it 


BREAKING    IN    CADETS.  I  I  5 

was  diffused  with  light  of  a  somewhat  phosphores- 
cent nature.  Whatever  it  was,  it  had  the  effect 
of  causing  Joe  to  vigorously  rub  his  eyes,  and 
doubt  whether  he  had  fully  recovered  his  senses. 

"  Go  forward,  Bently,  and  see  what  that  is  going 
up  to  the  fore-yard,  there,"  said  Mr.  Bloomsbury. 

The  object  had  now  reached  the  fore-yard,  under 
which  it  hung  bobbing  about  like  a  toy  balloon. 
Quickly  stepping  forward,  Joe  demanded  of  the 
anchor  watch  what  it  was  that  had  been  run  up  to 
the  yard. 

"  Dunno,  sir  ;  'deed  I  doesn't,"  answered  a  col- 
ored apprentice,  trembling  from  head  to  foot.  "  I 
specs  it  am  a  ghost,  sir." 

Evidently  he  was  not  in  the  secret.  Joe  ques- 
tioned the  other  members  of  the  watch,  but  an 
atmosphere  of  secrecy  surrounded  them.  All  the 
time  the  most  unaccountable  performances  were 
going  on  aloft. 

"I'll  find  out  for  myself,"  Joe  declared,  consid- 
erably irritated,  and  swinging  himself  into  the 
rigging. 

But  he  had  no  sooner  grasped  the  shrouds  than 
titterings  broke  out  all  around,  and  heads  began 
to  appear  in  the  different  hatchways.  One  man 
from  below,  who  failed  to  comprehend  the  situa- 
tion, sung  out,  "What's  up?" 

"  Sh  !  "   was  the  reply.      "Breaking  in  a  cadet." 

Joe  was  not  to  be  deterred,  and  he  soon  reached 


Il6  BREAKING    IN    CADETS. 

the  yard.  Meanwhile,  the  automaton  had  ceased 
its  gyrations,  and  had  slipped  out  to  the  yard  arm. 
The  first  thing  Joe  did  was  to  hunt  for  lines  or 
wires  by  means  of  which,  he  felt  sure,  the  thing 
was  operated.  .  But  he  could  discover  nothing  of 
the  kind.  He  was  now  poised  on  the  slings  of 
the  yard,  while  the  object  hung  quietly  at  the  tip 
end,  on  the  starboard  side.  He  concluded  that  he 
would  go  after  it.  Getting  within  easy  grasp,  he 
made  a  dive  for  it.  What  was  his  chagrin  to  see 
it  drop  several  inches  beyond  his  reach.  He 
grabbed  at  it  for  nearly  a  minute,  the  titterings 
below  all  the  time  becoming  more  audible.  Again 
it  came  up  a  little,  and  began  to  slowly  advance 
toward  the  slings  of  the  yard.  Joe  moved  after  it. 
It  kept  on  to  the  opposite  yard-arm.  He  acceler- 
ated his  speed.  This  time  he  was  sure  he  had  it, 
and  in  the  violence  of  his  lunge  nearly  flung  him- 
self on  deck".  Down  went  the  object  the  second 
time,  sliding  smoothly  and  quickly  back  to  its  first 
position.  Several  times  it  led  him  this  wild  goose 
chase  back  and  forth  upon  the  yard,  and  at  last 
stopped  flush  up  against  the  mast. 

Joe  stopped,  too,  to  take  breath  and  cool  off 
a  little.  He  was  in  something  of  a  predica- 
ment, of  which  he  was  disposed  to  take  a  comical 
view.  The  "job"  of  which  Long  had  warned 
him  was  now  easily  comprehended.  Among  his 
messmates    he  would  never  hear  the    last    of    it. 


BREAKING    IN    CADETS.  \\J 

How  Katie  Aston  would  laugh  could  she  now  see 
him  on  the  fore-yard,  close  on  to  midnight,  chasing 
a  ghost  !  Would  he  write  her  about  it,  and  would 
she  sketch  him  in  his  ludicrous  plight,  as  Schopy 
had  sketched  Hubbins  dancing  with  a  queen  ? 
But  then,  hadn't  he  decided  that  he  wouldn't 
write  her  any  more,  at  least,  any  more  than  one 
formal  letter  ?  And  at  the  mere  suggestion,  his 
hold  upon  the  buntwhips  to  which  he  was  cling- 
ing was  nearly  broken.  He  decided,  however, 
that  he  would  tell  her  of  this  affair.  It  would 
amuse  her,  and  help  fill  up  the  letter.  Glancing 
below,  he  concluded  that  he  would  not  hurry 
down.  Something  seemed  to  amuse  Mr.  Blooms- 
bury  —  in  fact,  everybody  down  there,  as  nearly 
as  he  could  make  out  in  the  dim  light,  looked 
pleased. 

What  was  his  horror,  also,  to  see  Coverly  stand- 
ing just  under  his  perch.  Why  should  he  appear 
at  just  that  instant?  He  had  stationed  himself  in 
the  same  relative  position  as  the  fox  in  the  fable 
did  to  the  crow.  And  as  the  fox,  from  a  purely 
personal  motive,  was  bent  on  making  the  crow  sing 
so  Coverly  was  determined  on  make  Joe  converse. 

"  Bently !    O,   Bently ! "    he    began,    "you    look 
very  pretty  up  there." 

No  answer. 

"  What  are  you  doing  out  on  the  fore-yard  this 
time  of  flight  ?  " 


Il8  BREAKING    IN    CADETS. 

Still  no  reply. 

"  Come,  now,  tell  us  what  you're  doing  up 
there,"  insisted  Coverly,  coaxingly. 

"  Only  sitting  here,"  said  Joe,  very  slowly. 

"  Why  don't  you  come  down,  then  ?  " 

"I  can't;  I'm  on  the  lookout  for  the  Squadron." 

"But  you  seemed  to  be  chasing  something," 

"I  was  following  up  a  light." 

"  Red  or  green,"  interrogated  Coverly. 

"Very  white,"  Joe  chuckled  back. 

"  Flying  Dutchman  ?  " 

"No;  Aztec  juggler." 

Just  then,  as  by  a  preconcerted  signal,  the 
blanket  covering  the  object  fell  fluttering  to  the 
deck,  and  there  hung  the  assistant  surgeon's  noble 
from  the  Court  of  the  Montezumas,  with  several 
candles  burning  brightly  in  the  interior.  It  had 
been  worked  by  a  very  clever  arrangement  of 
cords  and  pulleys  ;  a  contrivance  which,  together 
with  the  whole  scheme,  Joe  was  disposed  to  think 
originated  abaft  rather  than  before  the  mast. 

Next  morning  our  hero  was  awakened  by  an 
unusual  hubbub  in  the  steerage.  As  he  slowly 
opened  his  eyes,  he  hardly  knew  whether  he  was 
in  the  Tower  of  Babel  or  at  a  Washington  tea. 
Everyboby  was  talking  in  the  same  breath,  and 
Hubbins,  whose  slumber  could  not  have  been  of 
the  sweetest,  was  on  what  Coverly  called  his  regu- 
lar old  sea  growl. 


BREAKING    IN    CADETS.  I  19 

"  Some  tomfoolery  or  other  was  going  on  all 
night,"  he  said;  "I  hardly  fetched  a  wink  of 
sleep.  What  the  dickens  was  the  matter  on 
deck?" 

"The  squadron's  came  in,  sir,"  volunteered  the 
steerage  boy,  who  was  blacking  shoes  under  one 
of  the  ladders,  "an'  they  was  a  makin'  out  the 
numbers." 

"  I've  known  a  blockade-runner  to  be  blown  out 
of  water  with  half  the  fuss,"  continued  Hubbins. 

"  An'  two  men  was  caught,  an'  there  was  a 
ghost,  sir,"  added  the  boy. 

"  Ghost !  That  infernal  Digger  Injin  !  No  peace 
now,"  he  went  on.  "  Red  tape  by  the  thousand 
yard,  and  a  grand  hullaballoo  from  morning  till 
night." 

"Oh!  quit  your  growling,"  sung  out  Coverly 
from  his  bed  on  the  port  steerage  table. 

"  '  Important  naval  operations  at  Newport ! ' 
'Grand  squadron  evolutions  at  sea!'"  pursued 
Hubbins,  "sound  well  on  paper,  but  you  must 
excuse  me.  I'd  rather  take  another  dive  in  the 
Cumberland." 

"  No  allusions  to  old  cruises,"  yawned  Arlington. 
"  But  we've  got  to  turn  out ;  here  comes  '  Old 
Mortality.'" 

Austey  was  out  on  what  the  marines  and  mess- 
cooks  called  one  of  his  disinfectant  tours.  "  Come, 
break  out  here,"  he  said,  as   he  hustled  aft.      "  I 


120  BREAKING    IN    CADETS. 

want  this  deck  put  to  rights.  Sleeping  in,  too," 
he  added,  "  with  the  whole  North  Atlantic  Squad- 
ron anchored  alongside  !  What  are  these  young 
officers  coming  to  ?  " 

"These  young  admirals,  you  mean,"  muttered 
Hubbins. 

"  Schopy,"  whispered  Joe,  who  saw  that  Hub- 
bins'  ill-humor  was  not  nearly  so  great  as  it 
seemed,  "you're  all  right." 

In  a  few  minutes  everybody  was  out  of  his  ham- 
mock, waiting  his  turn  at  the  single  wash-basin. 
Such  composure  and  patience  were  probably  never 
seen  before,  save  in  the  land  of  Uz.  But  it  was  a 
matter  of  surprise  on  this  morning,  how  quickly 
the  mess  toilet  was  made.  There  was  an  unusual 
scarcity  of  combs  and  brushes,  for  which,  it  was 
the  general  conviction,  Coverly  was  responsible  ; 
and  those  who  reached  the  glass  first  showed  a 
most  miserly  disposition  to  monopolize  it.  When 
Hubbins  therefore  reached  it,  it  seemed  that  he 
never  would  give  it  up.  The  fact  that  Schopy 
was  immediately  behind  him  waiting  his  turn  may 
have  retarded  his  movements. 

"Hurry  up,"  sung  out  Henlington,  the  last  in 
the  line  ;   "I  can't  wait  here  all  day." 

"  Let  him  look  at  his  nose,  if  he  wants  to,"  said 
Coverly. 

Hubbins'  nose  happened  to  be  his  weak  point, 
and   Joe    began    to  dread   hostilities  at   Coverly's 


BREAKING    IN    CADETS.  I  2  I 

allusion.  In  color  it  approached  a  magenta,  and 
at  the  end  it  was  in  what  Coverly  called  its  gib- 
bous state.  Swera  had  been  quick  to  utilize  the 
information  the  nose  gave  of  itself  in  his  sketch, 
and  it  was  this  more  than  anything  else  that  made 
Hubbins  so  angry.  But  in  justice  to  Hubbins,  it 
must  be  said  that  he  was  trying  to  correct  the 
habit  which  had  wrought  this  mischief,  and  his 
nose  was  returning  to  its  original  form  and  color. 

Strange  to  say,  Hubbins  did  not  take  offense  at 
Coverly's  remark,  and  Joe  breathed  easier.  By 
the  good-natured  loan  of  a  few  collars  and  neck- 
ties, and  a  light  skirmishing  around  for  pins  on 
the  part  of  those  who  were  dressed,  in  behalf  of 
those  who  were  not  dressed,  to  take  the  place  of 
buttons  that  had  been  off  from  nine  months  to  a 
year,  the  whole  mess  was  at  last  in  a  presentable 
condition. 

Joe  stepped  on  deck  to  get  a  whiff  of  fresh  air, 
and  to  take  a  look  at  the  squadron  which  had 
arrived  in  the  mid-watch.  The  vessels  lay  quietly 
at  anchor  three  hundred  yards  off  the  Daybreak's 
bows.  He  had  seen  the  great  ships  of  other 
navies,  yet  these  vessels,  even  in  their  inferiority 
made  a  grand  picture  to  him.  Several  of  them 
were  historic  ;  ships  whose  names  will  never  dis- 
appear from  the  history  of  the  country;  ships 
whose  deeds  will  live  in  the  naval  annals  of  the 
world. 


122  BREAKING    IN    CADETS. 

A  good  deal  of  sentiment  had  Joe,  touching 
men-of-war  now,  and  he  felt  a  sense  of  injury  as 
Swem  and  Harry  broke  in  upon  his  reverie. 
Harry  happened  to  be  cadet  of  the  watch,  and 
was  exhilarated  by  the  fine  morning,  and  enthusi- 
astic over  the  arrival  of  the  squadron.  He  was 
fond  of  the  fuss  and  feathers  of  military  life,  and 
he  was  now  delighted  at  the  harbor-full  of  ships, 
promising  so  much  military  display. 

"Mr.  Moncrief,"  he  began,  "has  been  on  deck 
all  the  morning.  He  says  we  are  going  to  have 
lively  old  times.  Schopy,  old  boy,  you'll  wish 
Sunday  was  a  month  long  when  it  comes." 

"Why,  what's  going  to  happen?"  said  Swem, 
his  face  suddenly  clouding. 

•"  Oh  !  nothing.  Only  a  little  of  Mr.  Moncrief's 
work,  you  know ;  or  his  and  the  admiral's  to- 
gether." 

"He's  going  to  put  his  best  foot  forward,"  con- 
tinued Harry,  "and  show  them  what  the  Daybreak 
can  do." 

"I  presume  the  ships  will  be  inspected  first," 
remarked  Joe. 

"Very  likely.  After  that,  look  out,"  replied 
Harry.  "This  admiral  means  business.  "He'll 
get  us  down  to  the  hard  pan." 

"I  fancy,"  said  Joe,  "it  will  all  wind  up  with  a 
grand  encampment  of  the  whole  naval  brigade, 
and  a  sham  battle." 


BREAKING    IN    CADETS.  123 

"Of  course  it's  got  to  be  sham,  like  everything 
else  in  the  Navy,"  said  Harry,  in  a  tone  of  con- 
tempt. 

"  The  war  happened  fifteen  or  twenty  years  too 
soon  for  Edgerton,"  said  Swem.  "He's  as  blood- 
thirsty as  an  old  buccaneer." 

"  He  might  be  one,"  laughed  Joe.  "  There's  the 
Ouranos.  Why  not  run  away  with  her?  I'd  be 
your  executive,  and  Schopy  could  be  your  naviga- 
tor." 

"  By  the  way,  Bently,  did  I  tell  you  the  Ouranos 
may  be  at  Bar  Harbor  in  August  ?"  said  Harry. 

Joe  only  stared. 

"  Yes  ;  it's  barely  possible.  If  the  Daybreak 
only  fetches  round  there  the  same  time,  it'll  be  the 
creamiest  thing  I  know  of." 

Joe  did  not  utter  a  syllable. 

"  Of  course  you'll  introduce  Schopy  and  me  to 
that  nice  little  girl  you  know  down  there,"  Harry 
went  on. 

"I  don't  like  a  flag-ship  at  all."  began  Swem  at 
this  point,  to  Joe's  great  relief.  "She's  nothing 
but  a  watch-dog,  anyway.  The  admiral,  captain, 
and  everybody  else  rides  over  you  rough-shod. 
See !  They're  looking  at  us  now,  through  the 
ship's  glasses." 

The  admiral  and  the  captain  stood  upon  the 
flag-ship's  bridge,  gazing  earnestly  at  the  Day- 
break through  the  ship's  glasses. 


124  BREAKING    IN    CADETS. 

"  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  asked  Harry. 

"It  means,"  said  Arlington,  who  had  just  come 
on  deck,  "that  the  next  ten  days,  we'll  be  just  so 
many  toads  under  a  harrow." 

Breakfast  over,  Joe  was  summoned  on  deck 
with  Harry  and  Swem,  to  get  his  daily  instruc- 
tions from  Mr.  Moncrief.  Now  that  the  squadron 
was  in,  that  gentleman  was  anxious  that  the 
cadets  should  look  alive  and  secure  all  data  that 
could  be  of  any  practicable  help  to  them  in  their 
profession.  He  told  them  they  must  learn  some- 
thing of  the  history  of  each  ship  :  her  displace- 
ment, the  number  of  feet  she  drew,  forward  and 
aft,  her  coal-carrying  capacity,  the  indicated  horse 
power  of  her  engines,  and  her  highest  rate  of 
speed,  particularly  under  sail.  In  short,  they 
were  to  let  nothing  important  escape  them,  and  all 
was  to  be  recorded  in  their  journals. 

As  Mr.  Moncrief,  the  day  before,  had  given 
them  a  full  month's  work,  they  did  not  see  how 
they  could  properly  attend  to  this  new  apportion- 
ment of  duties.  But  they  said,  "ay,  ay,  sir,"  just 
as  though  the  time  were  a  dead  weight  on  their 
hands. 

"You  see,"  said  Harry,  when  they  got  below 
again,  "how  it's  fixed  in  my  journal,"  taking  the 
journal  out  of  a  drawer  and  laying  it  open  on  the 
table. 

At  the  top  of  each   page  was  a  large  heading 


BREAKING    IN    CADETS.  1 25 

written  in  red  ink,  and  as  Harry  turned  the  pages, 
Joe  read,  "Problems  in  Flotation,  Problems  in 
Resistance,  Problems  in  Curves,  Problems  in  Air 
Currents,"  and  so  on,  through  a  large  portion  of 
the  book. 

"It's  all  problems,"  laughed  Joe. 

"You'll  never  get  anything  else  from  Mr.  Mon- 
crief,"  said  Arlington,  who  was  standing  by,  much 
amused.  "  At  the  Academy  they  used  to  call 
him  '  Old  Problematical.'  " 

"If  he  don't  let  up  on  me,  there'll  be  a  cadet 
missing  from  quarters  one  of  these  fine  morn- 
ings," said  Swem. 

"  Only  keep  yourselves  busy,"  said  Arlington, 
"and  he'll  be  satisfied.  What  he  wants  is  to  have 
you  make  a  show  of  doing  a  great  deal.  It's  the 
appearance  that  he's  after,"  Arlington  concluded 
with  a  smile. 

Joe  did  not  believe  that  he  entertained  any 
such  view  of  Mr.  Moncrief,  but  there  was  no  time 
now  to  discuss  the  matter.  Before  leaving  the 
deck  he  had  been  informed  that  he  must  stand  by 
for  boat  duty.  The  boat  had  just  been  called 
away,  and  buckling  on  his  sword,  he  hastened  to 
report  to  the  officer  of  the  deck.  His  instructions 
were  simple.  He  was  first  to  go  ashore,  hunt  up 
the  chief  of  police,  and  inform  him  of  the  affair  of 
the  night  before,  and  then  return  immediately  to 
the  ship  for  further  orders. 


126  BREAKING    IN    CADETS. 

That  the  progress  of  this  story  may  not  be 
interrupted,  it  may  as  well  be  said  here  that  the 
two  men  were  promptly  convicted  and  sentenced 
to  a  term  in  jail,  the  plea  that  in  the  firing  it  was 
only  intended  to  frighten  the  officer  of  the  Day- 
break's boat,  saving  them  from  state  prison. 

Upon  his  return  to  the  Daybreak,  Joe  had  just 
time  to  brush  up  a  little  before  he  was  sent  on 
duty  to  the  flag-ship.  In  something  of  a  tremor 
he  made  his  way  to  that  august  craft.  To  a 
cadet,  especially  a  cadet  like  Joe,  an  admiral  is  a 
being  of  awful  grandeur.  What  was  his  conster- 
nation, therefore,  as  he  approached  the  flagship's 
gang-way,  to  see  both  the  admiral  and  the  captain 
standing  on  the  bridge  just  above  it. 

He  had  been  informed  that  the  admiral  was  a 
great  stickler  for  regulations,  particularly  in  mat- 
ters of  uniform.  His  face  was  therefore  scarlet 
as  he  went  over  the  side,  conscious  that  the 
admiral  was  raking  him  fore  and  aft  through  his 
glasses.  As  to  his  personal  appearance,  Joe  was 
rather  fastidious,  and  on  this  occasion  he  looked 
more  than  usually  presentable.  He  thought  noth- 
ing was  wanting  in  his  uniform,  and  he  was  espe- 
cially proud  of  his  sword,  polished  as  it  was  to  the 
brightness  of  some  historic  blade  on  exhibition  in 
a  glass  case. 

"Young  man,"  said  the  admiral,  "you're  out  of 
uniform." 


BREAKING    IN    CADETS.  127 

Joe  turned  pale,  and  could  not  say  a  word. 

"  When  you  return,"  continued  the  admiral,  not 
unpleasantly,  "ask  the  officer  of  the  deck  what 
the  omission  is  from  your  uniform."  Then  he 
resumed  conversation  with  the  captain. 

Joe  knew  that  this  was  a  hit  at  the  officer  of  the 
deck,  and  wondered  what  could  be  the  matter  with 
his  uniform.  He  had  to  wait  some  time  for  offi- 
cial papers,  and  he  could  do  nothing  better  than 
stand  around  the  deck.  He  tried  not  to  overhear 
what  the  admiral  was  saying  to  the  captain  on  the 
bridge,  but  with  ill-success.  That  high  official 
was  pointedly  commenting  on  the  fact  that  naval 
vessels  spend  entirely  too  much  time  in  port. 

The  captain  seemed  to  dissent  from  his  views. 
He  maintained  that  naval  vessels  spend  enough 
time  at  sea  for  all  practical  purposes,  in  making 
their  passages  from  one  country  and  from  one 
port  to  another.  "Why,"  said  he,  "I  was  once  a 
hundred  days  in  going  from  Montevideo  to  Gibral- 
tar; and,"  he  added,  "I  always  feel  uncertain, 
when  I  have  a  long  passage  to  make  in  one  of  our 
slow  ships,  whether  I  shall  reach  port  in  time  for 
the  day  of  judgment." 

"  What  a  grand  thing  it  must  be,"  thought  Joe, 
to  be  able  to  contradict  an  admiral." 

But  the  admiral  kept  right  on.  "  The  business 
of  sailors,"  he  said,  "is  to  be  at  sea;  and  while  I 
have   command,   there'll   be    no    yachting    in    the 


128  BREAKING    IN    CADETS. 

North  Atlantic  Squadron.  These  young  officers 
know  almost  nothing  about  handling  ships.  They 
know  everything  but  their  business  —  seamanship." 

What  was  Joe's  astonishment  to  hear  the  cap- 
tain say  :  "  That's  the  easiest  learned  of  all.  Ordi- 
nary experience  will  give  them  a  knowledge  of 
seamanship.  If  seamanship  were  all  there  is  to 
an  officer's  profession,  we  might  better  draw  our 
personelle  from  the  merchant  service,  and  not 
waste  so  many  years  at  the  Academy." 

"Yes,"  said  the  admiral,  seeming  to  pay  still 
less  attention  to  the  captain  ;  "  I  venture  to  say 
that  that  cadet  standing  there,  with  all  his  mathe- 
matics, couldn't  fish  a  lower  mast,  carried  away 
above  the  spider-band." 

Joe  was  tempted  to  touch  his  cap  to  the  admi- 
ral, and  ask  to  be  given  a  trial. 

"Or,"  continued  the  admiral  with  emphasis, 
"  in  running  before  the  wind  with  all  sail  set, 
should  the  mizzen  top-sail  parrel  carry  away,  to 
replace  it  immediately." 

Joe  had  to  admit  to  himself  that  this  was  a  poser. 

But  little  more  was  said.  The  admiral  inadvert- 
ently remarked  that  after  a  time  he  should  send 
the  Daybreak  along  the  coast,  having  her  spend  a 
number  of  weeks  at  Bar  Harbor.  Joe  gave  a  start 
at  this.  A  moment  later  the  admiral's  secretary 
placed  in  his  hand  a  package  of  official  papers  for 
Captain  Farradale,  and  he  took  his  departure. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE. 

OUR  hero  was  late  to  mess  that  day,  and 
but  for  Dicky  Dawson's  thoughtfulness, 
he  would  have  lost  it  altogether.  Dawson  was 
acting  temporarily  as  ship's  cook.  Knowing 
that  cadets'  belated  meals  are  apt  to  become 
brown  and  stringy,  and  often  waste  away  bodily 
in  galley  ovens,  be  had  saved  Joe  a  piping-hot 
plate  of  bean  soup  and  a  piece  of  plum  duff  from 
the  ship's  ration.  As  soon  as  Joe  appeared  at  the 
mess-table,  Dicky  presented  his  humble  offering 
with  much  obsequiousness.  The  hearty  thanks 
he  received,  therefore,  sent  him  back  to  the  galley 
as  light  as  a  feather. 

"That  young  feller's  a  regerler  sundowner,"  he 
confided  to  himself.  "  These  young  bucks  has  to 
douse  their  glims  alongside  o'  him." 

Owing  to  the  events  of  the  morning,  Joe  was  a 
little  absent-minded.  He  started  in  on  the  soup 
as  though  his  mouth  had  been  a  moulding  for  the 
reception  of  hot  metal.  But  his  boyish  encoun- 
ters with  hot  potatoes  had  taught  him  how  to 
129 


I3O  FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE. 

manage  when  an  accident  had  given  hot  food  a 
temporary  advantage,  and  he  returned  to  the 
table,  which  the  urgency  of  the  moment  had 
obliged  him  to  leave,  not  much  burned.  The 
affair,  however,  afforded  great  amusement  to 
Harry,  who,  beside  himself,  was  the  only  occu- 
pant of  the  steerage. 

"I  wish  that  secret  was  as  hot  as  the  soup,"  he 
said. 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Joe. 

"Then  you  couldn't  hold  it." 

Harry  had  been  plying  Joe  with  all  sorts  of 
questions.  He  wanted  to  learn  what  he  had  heard 
on  board  the  flag-ship  concerning  the  Daybreak's 
movements.  Joe  had  told  him  just  enough  to 
greatly  excite  his  curiosity.  "  Come,  now,  Joey," 
he  urged,  "  tell  me  all  about  it ;  I  won't  give  it 
away." 

The  mess  called  Joe  J.  B.,  Joey  B.,  Joey,  and 
so  on. 

"The  admiral  was  not  talking  to  me,"  said  Joe, 
"and  I  don't  like  to  repeat  what  I  overheard  in  a 
conversation." 

"  Didn't  he  say  the  Daybreak's  going  to  Bar 
Harbor?"  Harry  asked,  fixing  an  inquisitional  eye 
on  Joe. 

To  this  he  received  no  answer.  To  tell  the 
truth,  Joe  was  not  in  a  communicative  mood  this 
mornino;.      He  had  worn  the  wronsr  sword  belt  on 


FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE.  131 

board  the  flag-ship,  and  in  obedience  to  the  admi- 
ral's order,  had  been  obliged  to  tell  the  officer  of 
the  deck  what  had  been  said  to  him  about  it ;  and 
this  trivial  circumstance,  in  connection  with  what 
he  had  overheard  in  regard  to  the  Daybreak's 
movements,  had  quite  upset  him.  Truth  to  tell, 
however,  it  was  Mrs.  Pepper's  accompanying  ap- 
parition that  did  the  mischief. 

"Didn't  he,  now?"   persisted  Harry. 

"  He  didn't  say  she  wasn't  going  there,"  said 
Joe,  forced  to  a  direct  reply. 

"Couldn't  be  anything  better,"  said  Harry, 
much  pleased,  inferring  the  truth  from  Joe's 
inflection. 

To  Joe's  vision,  Mrs.  Pepper  now  seemed  to  be 
looking  daggers  at  him. 

"Bently,"  Harry  continued,  "why  don't  you 
want  to  go  to  Bar  Harbor?  " 

"  Did  I  say  I  didn't  want  to  go  ? "  Joe  answered 
evasively,  looking  up  quickly. 

"  O,  no !  But  aren't  you  all  right  with  the 
Astons  ?  " 

"What  —  what  put  that  into  your  head?"  fal- 
tered Joe,  quite  overcome  by  this  abrupt  question. 

"  Nothing  ;  only  you've  been  an  oyster  or  a  clam 
the  last  three  days.  That's  the  only  way  I  can 
account  for  it." 

"We  parted  the  best  of  friends,"  replied  Joe, 
his  eyes  blinking.      "But  have  I  been  very  glum  ?  " 


132  FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE. 

"  As  glum  as  our  old  Schopy  when  you  say 
Panama  or  the  South  Atlantic  to  him.  What 
have  you  got  to  say  about  it,  Schopy  ?  "  he  added, 
as  that  cadet,  to  Joe's  great  relief,  entered  the 
steerage. 

Swem  made  no  reply,  but  flung  himself  into  a 
chair,  the  very  picture  of  despair.  He  looked  so 
utterly  woe-begone  that  both  Joe  and  Harry  began 
laughing  immoderately. 

"Why,  Schopy,"  said  Joe,  "what  can  be  the 
matter  ?  You  look  like  that  last  man  in  '  Whin- 
chell's  Sketches  of  Creation.'  " 

Swem  spoke  not  a  word.  It  was  evident  there 
was  no  sympathy  there  for  him. 

"  Come,  Schopy,  tell  us  what  it  is  this  time," 
said  Harry  coaxingly. 

"It's  everything,"  said  Swem.  "But  you  can't 
do  me  any  good.  I'll  keep  still  and  take  the 
consequences." 

"  No,  you  won't,"  said  Joe.  "  Don't  beat  round 
the  bush  any  longer,  but  out  with  it." 

"  He's  going  to  send  me  a  challenge,"  said 
Swem,  feebly,  "and  I  want  you  to  be  my  second." 

At  this,  Joe  and  Harry  threw  themselves  back 
in  their  chairs  and  laughed  till  the  tears  ran  down 
their  faces. 

"You  seem  to  think  it's  a  trifling  matter,"  said 
Swem,  an  inflection  of  bitterness  entering  into  his 
lugubrious  tones.      "  It  may  cost  me  my  life." 


FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE.  I  33 

"What  weapon  are  you  going  to  use,  Schopy  ? " 
asked  Harry,  with  great  effort  controlling  himself 
to  speak. 

"He  might  use  old  Hannibal,"  put  in  Joe. 

Old  Hannibal,  as  the  cadets  had  named  it,  was 
the  sword  Swem  had  been  wearing  several  days. 
A  few  evenings  before,  he  had  lost  his  own.  In 
some  way  its  scabbard  had  caught  in  between  the 
steps  of  the  ladder  as  he  ran  up  the  gangway,  and 
the  blade  being  violently  ejected,  had  gone,  where 
it  were  better  all  swords  should  be,  to  the  bottom 
of  the  sea.  As  a  substitute,  Swem  was  using  one 
loaned  him  by  the  surgeon.  It  was  a  very  hungry- 
looking  weapon.  From  its  appearance  it  might 
have  been  made  in  ancient  Carthage  or  modern 
Persia.  It  was  much  larger  than  the  sword  Swem 
had  lost,  and  its  curviture  described  nearly  the 
same  arc  as  an  Indian  bow  fully  bent.  Attached 
to  Swem's  ungainly  person,  this  sword  afforded 
endless  amusement. 

"You  could  slay  old  Hannibal  himself  with 
that  weapon,"  said  Harry,  still  convulsed  over  the 
ludicrousness  of  the  affair.  "Just  rattle  it  at 
Hubbins,  and  he'll  move  livelier  than  he  did  danc- 
ing with  that  queen." 

"Well,  Schopy,"  said  Joe,  "don't  you  mind. 
Hubbins  only  wants  -to  scare  you.  It  is  that 
sketch,  you  know.  If  there's  any  duelling  to  be 
clone,  I'll  attend  to  it." 


134  FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE. 

The  gloom  began  to  disappear  from  Swem's 
face.  Presently  the  old  look  returned,  and  he 
appeared  more  rueful  than  ever.  "There's  some- 
thing else,"  he  added  timidly. 

"Out  with  it,"  said  Joe. 

"The  clothes  have  come  off." 

"  Oh  !  and  you  haven't  the  money  to  pay  for 
them,"  continued  Joe  kindly.  "What  did  they 
say  about  it? " 

"  They  said  the  ship  was  going  to  sail  in  a  couple 
of  days,  and  if  the  money  wasn't  ready  by  to-mor- 
row morning,  the  matter  would  be  brought  to  the 
captain's  attention.  I  don't  want  to  be  reported 
for  debt." 

"  I  don't  see  how  they  know  when  the  ship's 
going  to  sail,"  said  Harry. 

"They  know  everything,"  growled  Swem. 

"  They  certainly  seem  quite  familiar  with  your 
impecunious  condition,"  returned  Joe. 

"  They  wormed  it  out  of  Hubbins,  no  doubt," 
observed  Swem.  "  He  has  a  grudge  against  us  for 
drawing  our  money  and  spending  it  as  we  like. 
It's  none  of  his  business,  anyway." 

"How  many  suits  were  there?"  asked  Joe. 

"Only  three,  and  an  overcoat,"  replied  Swem: 

"A  ridiculously  small  number,"  said  Harry. 
"Why  didn't  you  carry  away  the  whole  store, 
Schopy  ?  It's  strange  that  they  should  want  their 
pay." 


FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE.  1 35 

Against  the  positive  orders  of  the  officer  of  the 
deck,  Swem  had  forsaken  his  boat  and  gone  up 
town,  spending  a  long  time  in  selecting  the  goods 
for  his  suits.  Joe  had  heard  about  this  and  took 
him  to  task  for  his  extravagance  and  disobedience 
of  orders.  He  preached  quite  an  uncompromising 
sermon  over  the  affair.  Overhearing  a  few  of  his 
earnest  words,  Coverly  asked  him  why  he  didn't 
vary  the  exercises  by  singing  a  hymn.  But  now 
Swem  was  in  real  difficulty,  and  Joe  did  not  pro- 
pose indulging  in  any  recriminating  thoughts  or 
words. 

"I  have  a  plan,  Schopy,"  he  said  at  last,  seized 
with  a  bright  idea  as  Arlington  appeared  on  the 
scene,  "if  you'll  agree  to  it." 

"Oh!  I'll  agree  to  anything." 

"Well,"  said  Joe,  laughing,  "I  propose  that 
Arlington,  Harry  and  myself,  constitute  a  commit- 
tee of  finance,  to  take  charge  of  your  affairs. 
What  do  you  say  to  that  ?  " 

"Say?"  said  Swem,  all  acquiescence. 

"We'll  pay  for  the  suits  out  of  our  own  money. 
You  are  to  turn  over  to  us  all  your  receipts  ;  and 
after  paying  your  mess-bill,  and  allowing  you  an 
allotment  for  spending  money,  we  will  reimburse 
ourselves  from  month  to  month  with  what  is  left. 

"Oh  !  I'll  agree  to  that,"  cried  Swem  eagerly. 

"  But,  furthermore,  Schopy,  you  must  also  agree 
not  to  run  up  any  more  bills,  and  to  make  no  pur- 


I36  FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE. 

chase  that  amounts  to  anything  without  consulting 
the  committee.      What  do  you  say  to  that  ? " 

"O,  no!  I  won't  agree  to  that  part  of  it,"  said 
Swem.  "  I  don't  want  to  be  obliged  to  run  to  you 
about  all  my  little  bills.  I'd  a  good  deal  rather  be 
in  debt." 

"Oh!  well,"  said  Harry,  "we  would  as  lief  let 
the  captain  settle  the  matter." 

"I'll  agree  to  it,"  said  Swem,  forced  to  this 
alternative  by  Harry's  bit  of  irony. 

It  took  some  little  time  for  Joe  to  talk  Arling- 
ton and  Harry  into  accepting  all  his  arrangements  ; 
but  they  finally  yielded  and  became  members  of 
the  committee.  "  Now,  gentlemen  of  the  commit- 
tee," he  said,  "it's  all  settled  about  the  bills. 
There  is  another  matter  which  demands  our  atten- 
tion at  once.      Schopy  must  have  a  new  sword." 

"By  the  way,  Schopy,"  said  Harry,  "what  were 
you  sent  back  from  the  flag-ship  for  this  morning? " 

"  On  account  of  that  infernal  old  Carthagenian 
sickle  I  had  to  wear." 

Swem  had  fared  a  great  deal  worse  than  Joe  at 
the  admiral's  hands..  No  sooner  had  he  stepped 
over  the  flag-ship's  side  than  the  admiral  caught 
sight  of  his  huge  sword. 

"Go  back,  sir,"  commanded  the  admiral,  "and 
return  to  me  in  proper  uniform." 

"  Is  there  anything  further  to  come  before  this 
committee  ? "    asked   Arlington,    when   the   merri- 


FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE.  I  T,7 

merit  over  Swem's  episode  with  the  admiral  had 
subsided. 

"  Schopy  ought  to  be  provided  with  a  blue-book," 
said  Harry. 

About  eleven  o'clock  that  morning,  Swem  had 
been  sent  into  the  cabin  to  report  that  a  boat 
belonging  to  a  captain  of  one  of  the  other  ships, 
who  was  on  a  visit  to  the  Daybreak,  was  ready  at 
the  gang-way. 

"  Mr.  G 's  gig  is  ready,  sir,"  said  he,  address- 
ing Captain  Farradale. 

"Mr.  G 's  gig  is  ready!"  repeated   Captain 

Farradale  with  emphasis. 

"  Yes,    sir ;     Mr.   G 's   gig   is    ready  at    the 

gangway." 

"Go  below,  sir,"  said  Captain  Farradale,  "and 
see  if  the  regulations  allow  you  to  address  a  com- 
manding officer  as  Mr." 

The  business  of  the  committee  having  been 
transacted  to  Swem's  satisfaction,  as  well  as  their 
own,  Joe  went  on  deck.  Mr.  Bloomsbury  was 
also  there.  As  soon  as  he  caught  sight  of  Joe,  he 
cautioned,  "  You'd  better  look  alive,"  and  with  a 
beaming  face  proceeded  to  volunteer  information 
which  this  young  man  had  already  received.  "  The 
ship's  going  to  be  inspected  this  afternoon.  This 
admiral  never  gives  any  notice.  When  anything's 
to  be  done  it's  the  word  'go'  with  him.  It's  a  lit- 
tle old   school,  you  know,  pitching  in  when  you're 


I38  FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE. 

only  half  prepared.  But  the  clanger  nowadays  is, 
that  there'll  be  too  much  preparation." 

''I  believe  they're  coming  now,"  exclaimed  Joe, 
with  a  hasty  glance  toward  the  flag-ship.  For 
the  admiral  and  his  staff  were  standing  on  the 
quarter  deck  in  full  epauletted  splendor,  waiting 
to  embark. 

This  discovery  from  the  Daybreak's  deck  was 
simultaneous.  A  wonderful  transformation  was 
effected  "by  the  sight.  In  a  twinkling  the  ship's 
company  were  properly  uniformed  and  equipped 
for  the  occasion.  They  were  at  quarters  almost 
before  the  admiral  had  shoved  off.  As  he  came 
over  the  Daybreak's  side,  it  was  as  if  a  curtain 
had  been  suddenly  lifted,  showing  the  ship  in 
pantomime. 

From  his  station  Joe  could  take  in  the  entire 
deck.  Although  a  commonplace  sight,  he  never- 
theless felt  a  justifiable  pride  in  it.  It  was  a 
picture  to  him.  His  eyes  fairly  sparkled  with  the 
pleasure  it  gave  him.  There  was  the  boatswain 
with  the  side-boys  at  the  gangway,  the  drummer 
close  by,  the  long,  even  lines  of  shapely,  stalwart 
men,  the  marine-guard  fully  plumed  and  accou- 
tered,  with  the  captain  of  marines  and  Coverly  in 
front,  splendid  in  their  richly-ornamented  dress, 
and  lastly  Captain  Farradale  with  his  officers,  look- 
ing as  if  they  had  been  melted  into  their  close- 
fitting  uniforms. 


FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE.  1 39 

But  there  was  little  time  to  contemplate.  Sud- 
denly the  boatswain  blew  his  whistle,  the  drummer 
rolled  off  his  ruffles,  the  marines  presented  arms, 
the  executive  officer  mounted  the  bridge  and  gave 
orders  to  the  gunner  on  the  forecastle,  who  made 
the  harbor  ring  with  an  admiral's  salute,  and  the 
inspection  began  in  earnest. 

Had  the  admiral  been  an  astronomer  at  the 
Cambridge  Observatory,  on  the  lookout  for  a  new 
comet,  he  could  hardly  have  given  the  sky  more 
minute  attention  than  he  now  awarded  the  Day- 
break. He  covered  his  cocked  hat  with  cobwebs, 
and  his  coatsleeves  were  well  touched  up  with 
whitewash,  but  he  saw  all  there  was  to  be  seen. 
Everybody  on  deck  perspired,  for  the  day  was  hot, 
but  he  passed  through  a  period  of  exudation  as 
trying  below. 

At  last  he  emerged  from  the  berth  deck,  and 
turning  to  Captain  Farradale,  he  quite  won  the 
cadets'  hearts  by  the  compliments  he  paid  the 
officer  on  the  excellent  condition  of  the  Daybreak, 
and  the  fine  appearance  of  her  crew.  As  he  left 
the  ship,  Joe  saw  him  glance  sharply  at  Swem, 
who  was  quite  near  the  starboard  gangway,  con- 
spicuous alongside  the  surgeon's  gigantic  side-arm. 
But  whatever  may  have  been  his  thoughts,  the 
admiral  said  nothing,  a  surprise  to  all  who  knew 
him.  As  soon  as  he  was  out  of  the  way,  Mr. 
Moncrief   turned   to   Swem  before  the  assembled 


I4O  FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE. 

ship's  company  and  asked,  "  Is  that  your  sword, 
sir  ?  " 

"No,  sir,"  replied  Swem,  turning  pale;  "it's 
the  surgeon's.     I  lost  mine  overboard." 

Mr.  Moncrief  evidently  thought  it  was  punish- 
ment enough  to  be  obliged  to  appear  like  a  Lord 
High  Executioner,  or  a  Bashi-bazouk,  for  he  said 
nothing  further.  And  Swem  gave  a  great  sigh  of 
relief  when  the  order  came  to  pipe  down. 

But  a  few  moments  were  allowed  for  every  one 
to  get  back  into  service  dress.  As  the  admiral 
left  the  Daybreak  he  quietly  told  Captain  Farra- 
dale  to  stand  by  for  any  number  of  exercises,  and 
he  had  not  much  more  than  reached  the  flag-ship 
before  an  order  was  signalled  to  all  the  vessels  to 
at  once  abandon  ship.  Here  was  an  opportunity 
for  competitorship,  and  nothing  so  kindled  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  Daybreak's  crew.  A  hot  con- 
test was  sure  to  follow,  in  which  she  was  generally 
victorious. 

For  a  moment  all  was  still,  then  as  the  order 
rung  out  from  the  flag-ship's  bridge,  there  was  a 
dash  for  the  boats  like  the  rush  of  boarders  over 
an  enemy's  side  in  battle.  Joe's  station  at  this 
exercise  was  in  the  sailing  launch.  She  was  rest- 
ing snugly  inboard  on  her  cradles,  and  in  a  moment 
he  was  toiling  as  if  all  depended  on  him  to  get  her 
into  the  water.  In  this  exercise  every  thing  is 
done  likely  to  be  required  in  abandoning  a  found- 


FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE.  I4I 

ering  or  burning  ship  at  sea.  There  was  a  great 
splashing  of  life-rafts,  catamarans  and  boats,  along- 
side, a  lively  scampering  to  get  breakers  of  fresh 
water,  bags  of  bread,  nautical  instruments,  and  so 
forth,  in  the  respective  boats,  and  presently  the 
order  was  given  to  embark.  A  moment  more  and 
the  Daybreak's  sides  were  bombarded  with  boat- 
hooks,  and  the  flotilla  pushed  off  into  the  stream. 
Up  to  this  point  everything  had  been  done  with 
great  promptness,  and  the  Daybreak's  crew  led 
those  of  the  other  ships. 

"That  was  well  done!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Blooms, 
bury,  who  was  in  command  of  the  sailing  launch. 

"It's  a  bad  beat  for  the  other  ships,"  said  Joe, 
delighted  that  the  Daybreak's  crew  had  been  the 
first  to  embark. 

By  this  time  the  usual  afternoon  breeze  was 
blowing  in  strongly  from  the  sea,  making  the  har- 
bor very  hubbly,  as  sailors  say.  The  store  of  pro- 
visions in  the  launch  was  very  light,  but  her  load 
of  men  and  boys  was  very  heavy.  She  was  car- 
ried under  almost  to  the  gunwales  and  began  to 
take  in  considerable  water. 

"I  think  I'll  go  back,"  laughed  Mr.  Bloomsbury, 
"and  take  my  chances  on  a  grating  or  a  halyard 
rack.  Conrad,"  he  continued,  looking  comically 
at  the  coxswain,  "  how  many  days'  rations  have 
we?  It's  a  thousand  miles  to  the  nearest  island, 
you  know,  and  we  don't  want  to  eat  up  the  boys." 


I42  FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE. 

All  the  boys  in  the  boat  laughed  but  one.  He 
looked  considerably  .frightened.  But  a  colloquy 
taking  place  between  Captain  Farradale,  who  with 
a  few  ship-keepers  had  remained  on  board,  and  a 
couple  of  firemen  in  a  catamaran,  now  drew  their 
attention  away  from  the  launch. 

"  Catamaran  there  !  "   hailed  the  captain. 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir !  "   called  back  one  of  the  men. 

"Have  you  any  provisions  on  that  catamaran  ?  " 

"Any  what,  sir?  "   shouted  the  man. 

"Any  provisions  —  anything  to  eat,"  said  the 
captain  quite  sharply. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  was  shouted  back,  as  if  his  meaning 
was  fully  comprehended  now. 

"What  is  it,  then?"  called  the  captain,  a  little 
angrily. 

"Swabs,  sir,"  sung  out  the  man. 

"There's  a  signal  going  up  at  the  flag-ship's 
mizzen,"  said  Joe  to  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  still  laugh- 
ing over  the  incident  of  the  swabs. 

The  admiral  wants  to  see  his  mosquito  fleet 
under  sail,"  said  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  as  he  read  the 
signal  to  proceed  around  the  harbor  under  sail. 

Masts  were  now  stepped,  jibs  and  mainsails  run 
up,  and  in  a  moment  or  two  the  boats  were  laying 
over  under  a  spanking  breeze,  cutting  huge  dia- 
grams over  the  harbor.  It  was  a  fine  sight  to  see 
them  sporting  in  the  broad  water  spaces  among 
the  ships. 


FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE.  I43 

Suddenly  every  eye  was  riveted  on  the  cutter 
of  which  Swem  was  in  charge.  He  was  cracking 
on  with  surprising  recklessness,  driving  the  boat 
through  the  water  almost  on  her  beam  ends. 

"There's  a  capsize  for  you,"  said  Joe,  as  the 
cutter  flew  past  the  launch  which  was  poking 
along  like  a  huge  turtle. 

"Ease  off  your  sheets,"  sung  out  Mr.  Blooms- 
bury,  as  a  puff  of  wind  carried  the  cutter's  rail 
under  water. 

But  it  was  too  late.  The  sheets  jammed,  the 
tiller  was  put  over  the  wrong  way,  and  the  cutter 
went  down  bows  on,  leaving  nothing  visible  but 
the  mast-heads  to  mark  the  spot  where  she  disap- 
peared. 

As  luck  would  have  it,  enough  of  the  masts  were 
left  standing  out  of  water  to  afford  holding  places 
for  the  men  and  boys,  who  instantly  came  to  the 
surface  and  surrounded  them.  Several  who  had 
been  swept  under  the  sails,  and  two  or  three  who 
had  become  entangled  in  the  ropes,  displayed  great 
presence  of  mind  in  working  themselves  clear. 
But  all  of  them  were  pretty  well  exhausted  when 
they  reached  the  surface,  and  one  or  two,  but  for 
the  timely  exertion  of  the  good  swimmers,  would 
have  gone  down  again. 

The  launch  happened  to  be  the  nearest  boat,  and 
in  a  moment  was  at  the  scene  of  the  accident. 
As  the  men   and    boys,    struggling    in    the    water, 


144  FORCED    TO    A    COMPROMISE. 

were  hauled  in,  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  satisfied  that  the 
worst  part  of  the  disaster  was  the  loss  of  the  boat, 
was  quite  humorous  over  the  affair.  Swem  was 
the  last  one  fished  out.  Mr.  Bloomsbury  would 
not  let  him  be  hauled  in  until  all  the  others  were 
rescued ;  "  for  the  captain  is  always  the  last  to 
leave  his  ship,"  he  said. 

"Boy  Long's  drowned,  sir,"  sung  out  an  appren- 
tice, evidently  more  excited  than  grieved  over  the 
event. 

"It's  a  lie  —  I  hain't  neither,"  sung  out  Long, 
who  had  been  stuffed  in  between  the  thwarts  so 
as  to  be  nearly  hidden. 

A  general  recall  now  appeared,  and  the  boats 
returned  to  their  several  ships.  When  the  Day- 
break's crew  was  mustered,  the  flag-ship  asked  by 
sigrial  if  the  cutter's  crew  had  all  been  saved. 
"All  have  answered  to  their  muster,"  was  sig- 
nalled back. 


CHAPTER  X. 

A     SPEN.T     SHELL. 

^HE  next  twenty-four  hours  Joe's  head  was 
A  fairly  in  a  whirl.  First  of  all,  he  was 
obliged  to  take  Schopy's  mid-watch,  or  rather  he 
volunteered  to  do  so  against  the  protestations  of 
both  Arlington  and  Harry.  The  necessity  for 
doing  this  grew  out  of  Schopy's  indulgence  in  too 
large  a  piece  of  plum  duff. 

Dicky  Dawson  had  observed  Joe's  strong  friend- 
ship for  Swem,  and  as  a  compliment  to  Joe,  had 
bestowed  upon  Schopy  an  enormous  piece  of  this 
sailor  luxury,  thus  cheating  boy  Long  out  of  his 
lawful  ration.  It  happened  that  this  particular 
plum  duff,  from  which  Joe  had  thought  it  prudent 
to  abstain  at  the  breakfast  already  described,  was 
a  failure. 

In  case  the  other  ammunition  gave  out,  the 
men  remarked,  in  time  of  war  it  might  have  been 
used  in  continuing  a  siege.  It  is  reasonably  cer- 
tain if  the  inhabitants  of  a  large  city  had  seen  it 
falling  among  them  during  socialistic  demonstra- 
tions, they  would  have  been  put  to  flight,  easily 
MS 


I46  A     SPENT    SHELL. 

mistaking  it  for  dynamite  or  gun  cotton.  But  this 
was  nothing  to  Schopy.  He  was  hungry,  and 
what  was  plum  duff  for  ? 

Boy  Long  bitterly  complained  to  Joe  of  the 
fraud  that  Dawson  had  perpetrated  upon  him, 
and  wound  up  his  observations  with  the  remark, 
"These  young  officers  is  awfully  stuck  up,  sir,  but 
they  hain't  no  better'n  we  be,  be  they,  sir?" 
meaning,  Joe  took  it,  the  apprentice-boys. 

But  taking  Schopy' s  mid-watch  was  not  all  of 
Joe's  extra  duty,  by  any  means.  Somehow  or 
other,  nearly  all  the  special  boat  duty  fell  to  him. 
There  were  so  many  trips  sandwiched  in  between 
the  regular  boat-running  that  it  kept  him  as  busy 
as  a  ferryman.  Then,  too,  when  it  became  evi- 
dent that  the  squadron  would  soon  be  under  sail- 
ing orders,  as  the  newly-elected  caterer  of  the 
mess,  he  had  to  lay  in  fresh  supplies  and  pay  all 
outstanding  bills.  Schopy 's  debts,  meanwhile,  gave 
him  no  little  trouble. 

In  addition  to  this,  Mr.  Bloomsbury  and  Mr. 
Moncrief,  not  realizing  that  there  could  be  any 
limit  to  a  cadet's  capacity  for  work,  heaped  upon 
him  many  little  tasks,  insignificant  in  themselves, 
but  making  large  inroads  upon  his  time.  The 
wardroom  officers  liked  Joe's  way  of  doing  things. 
His  energy  and  uniform  good-nature  and  courtesy, 
won  him  many  friends  among  them,  but  in  conse- 
quence, more  work  was  put  upon   him   than  any 


A     SPENT    SHELL.  147 

two  cadets  ought  to  do.  But  he  neither  grumbled 
nor  lost  his  temper.  He  realized  that  he  was  all 
the  time  learning  his  profession,  and  he  was  by  no 
means  sorry  for  the  experience  he  was  getting. 

It  would  not  be  a  faithful  record  of  our  hero's 
feelings  to  say  that  his  sensations  were  not  those 
of  relief  and  gladness,  when  toward  sunset  next 
evening,  the  Daybreak,  with  the  other  ships  of  the 
squadron,  steamed  leisurely  out  to  sea.  Joe  was 
at  his  station  in  the  main-top,  his  thoughts  busier 
than  his  hands.  The  ship  not  being  under  sail, 
there  was  nothing  special  for  him  to  do. 

The  day  had  been  quite  an  eventful  one  to  him. 
In  the  press  of  getting  the  ship  ready  for  sea,  he 
had  found  barely  time  to  write  Katie  his  promised 
letter  —  the  one  he  felt  sure  would  be  his  last, 
unless  she  should  urge  further  correspondence. 
Without  such  urging,  it  seemed  to  him,  he  would 
have  no  right  to  address  her  another  letter. 
Indeed,  he  felt  almost  certain  after  Mrs.  Pepper's 
probable  warning  to  Mr.  Aston,  that  he  would  not 
again  hear  directly  from  any  member  of  the  family. 
The  thought  fairly  made  him  shiver,  although  the 
thermometer  stood  at  eighty  degrees. 

Another  thing  which  had  contributed  to  his 
disquiet  was  Harry's  plump  question  of  the  day 
before.  He  remembered  that  Harry's  cousin  was 
Katie's  friend,  and  that  two  clays  previously  he 
had    received    a    letter    from    her.       He    recalled 


I48  A  SPENT  SHELL. 

Harry's  keen  look,  and  the  peculiar  inflection  of 
his  voice  as  he  put  the  question,  and  he  wondered 
if  any  hint  had  been  given  in  the  aforesaid  letter 
of  the  evident  surmisings  of  the  Astons  in  regard 
to  himself.  If  nothing  else  had  done  so,  he  now 
thought  possible  that  his  confusion  in  Harry's 
presence  might  have  given  him  the  impression 
that  something  was  wrong. 

And  then  he  thought,  What  if  the  Celeste  should 
be  at  Bar  Harbor  when  the  Daybreak  arrived  ? 
How  then  could  he  avoid  seeing  his  friends  ? 
And  if  they  should  treat  him  with  indifference, 
how  could  he  endure  it  ?  Joe  fairly  groaned  as  he 
reviewed  the  unpleasant  relations  that  Mrs.  Pep- 
per's active  and  meddlesome  agency  had,  he  now 
believed  without  the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  estab- 
lished between  the  Astons  and  himself.  So  up  in 
the  quiet  top  he  went  over  the  whole  ground  of 
his  troubles  again,  feeling  not  one  whit  the  better 
for  it. 

So  absorbed  had  he  been  in  the  above  thoughts 
that  he  had  scarcely  noticed  anything  around  him. 
The  squadron  was  all  aflame  in  the  glorious  sun- 
set. Spars,  stays  and  cordage  seemed  shafts  and 
lines  of  gold  in  the  brilliant  light,  yet  he  had  not 
heeded  the  splendid  effect. 

Neither  had  he  been  conscious  that  he  was  for- 
gotten by  the  officer  of  the  deck,  and  ought  long 
aero   to   have    been    relieved.      The    thing;    at    last 


A     SPENT    SHELL.  I49 

which  really  called  him  to  his  senses  was  the  fact 
that  he  had  eaten  scarcely  nothing  since  the  early 
morning.  The  appetite  of  a  naval  cadet  seldom 
participates  in  his  mental  troubles  ;  and  when  at 
last  from  his  lofty  perch  he  caught  the  wandering 
eye  of .  the  officer  of  the  deck,  and  received  an 
instantaneous  order  to  lay  down  from  aloft,  he 
did  so  with  little  ceremony.  A  moment  later  he 
sat  at  the  mess-table,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  a 
more  celebrated  J.  B.,  'Tike  a  giant  refreshing." 

He  got  only  the  fag  end  of  things,  however,  as 
dinner  was  nearly  over  when  he  came  in.  Every- 
body was  unusually  quiet.  Coverly  had  left  the 
table,  and  sat  on  the  transom  coaxing  a  refrain 
out  of  his  zithern.  It  seemed  to  Joe  like  a  lament 
over  the  departed  social  joys  of  Newport.  Hub- 
bins  lingered  over  his  dessert,  quiet,  but  now  and 
then  casting  an  unforgiving  eye  at  Swem,  who 
looked  as  unhappy  as  ever.  Cardington,  never  hav- 
ing been  to  sea  before,  was  very  melancholy  over 
the  heavy  swell  which  the  Daybreak  occasionally 
rolled  her  ports  under.  The  whole  mess  was 
present  but  Austey,  and  nobody  seemed  in  any 
mood  for  talking. 

"When  I  was  in  the  Cumberland,"  began  Hub- 
bins,  more  to  break  the  silence  than  to  finish  an 
incident  from  his  experience  on  that  ill-fated  ship, 
«I"  — 

A  shout  of  expostulation  followed. 


I50  A     SPENT    SHELL. 

"We've  read  all  that,"  said  Coverly,  flinging- 
his  zithern  into  a  corner.  "Tell  us  about  your 
early  contemporary,  John  Paul  Jones,  or  some  of 
your  experiences  in  the  war  with  the  Barbary 
States." 

Without  saying  another  word,  Hubbins  got  up 
and  left  the  steerage. 

"I'm  sure,"  said  Joe,  "we  ought  to  be  more 
respectful  toward  Hubbins.  We  know  he  has  a 
violent  temper,  and  we  ought  to  be  all  the  more 
careful  not  to  offend  him." 

Joe  had  had  a  little  talk  with  Hubbins,  regard- 
ing the  affair  of  the  sketch  and  his  own  heat  over 
it.  He  assured  him  that  Swem  did  not  mean 
to  be  disrespectful  in  his  caricature,  and  that  he 
had  already  destroyed  it.  Joe,  of  course,  knew 
that  the  challenge  which  Swem  had  so  much  feared 
was  pure  fiction,  originating  in  Coverly's  teeming 
brain.  Thinking  it  might  prolong  the  fun,  Coverly 
had  undertaken  to  persuade  Swem  that  Hubbins' 
vengeance  could  only  be  appeased  by  a  meeting 
ashore  of  a  private  and  sanguinary  nature. 

"He's  only  grumpy,"  said  Coverly.  "He  has 
not  got  over  that  Queen  of  Greece  business,  yet." 

"Oh!  Schopy,"  said  Harry,  "what  did  Mr. 
Moncrief  say  to  you  to-day  about  the  cutter?  " 

"  Said  I'd  got  to  learn  to  sail  her  if  it  took  a 
year.  He'll  send  me  out  in  the  next  gale  of  wind, 
I  suppose." 


A     SPENT    SHELL.  I  5  I 

"Capital,"  said  Arlington;  "it's  Captain  Farra- 
dale's  idea.  He'll  keep  you  at  it  till  you're  the 
best  sailor  in  the  steerage." 

But  the  deepest  gloom  rested  on  Swem's  coun- 
tenance.     He  did  not  enjoy  the  prospect. 

"Don't  fret  about  it,  Schopy,"  said  Joe.  "I 
heard  Captain  Farradale  say  he  never  regrets  such 
accidents  when  nobody's  drowned,  as  in  your  case. 
'The  quickest  way  to  learn  seamanship,'  he  says, 
'is  by  accidents.'  Next  time  just  take  old  Dicky 
Dawson  along.  The  boat  isn't  built  that  can 
drown  him." 

"  You'll  never  be  drowned,  Schopy ;  you're  born 
to  be  hung,  you  know,"  said  Harry. 

"  Let's  christen  his  cranky  little  craft,"  said 
Coverly,  springing  to  his  feet.  "  Gentlemen,  what 
shall  we  name  her  ?  " 

"The  Kingfisher,"  laughed  Harry;  "she  went 
under  like  a  bird." 

"The  Little  Dipper,"  said  Joe. 

"The  Diver,"  suggested  Arlington. 

"I  have  it!  I  have  it!"  exclaimed  Coverly. 
"The  Godiva  —  The  Lady  Godiva.  We'll  chris- 
ten her  the  Lady  Godiva." 

"Good  enough,"  went  up  with  a  shout. 

"And  now  I  propose  three  cheers  for  the  gal- 
lant skipper  of  the  Lady  Godiva,"  said  Harry, 
jumping  to  his  feet. 

Had  the  tempest   of    fun   that   now  shook  the 


15-'  A     SPENT    SHELL. 

steerage,  been  a  proportionate  disturbance  of  the 
natural  elements,  it  would  have  sent  the  Lady 
Godiva  or  any  other  small  craft  to  the  bottom  in  a 
twinkling. 

"The  hexecutive  hofficer  says  will  the  young 
gentlemen  please  not  talk  so  'igh,"  said  an  orderly, 
late  from  the  Queen's  service,  putting  his  head 
inside  the  door. 

There  was  a  momentary  lull ;  then  the  storm 
rose  to  its  original  height.  This  time  it  was 
silenced  by  a  peremptory  order. 

"Well,"  said  Coverly,  as  he  rose  to  leave  the 
steerage  after  the  orderly's  second  appearance, 
"the  Lady  Godiva's  been  in  all  sorts  of  scrapes  — 
run  down,  capsized,  swamped,  had  her  back  broken, 
and  I  don't  know  what.  Schopy,  old  boy,  I'll  say 
good-by  to  you  now,"  he  concluded  abruptly, 
extending  his  hand  to  Swem  with  a  look  of  comi- 
cal resignation. 

[It  may  be  well  to  mention,  just  here,  that  the 
cutter,  which  had  gone  down  through  Swem's  bad 
seamanship,  had  that  morning  been  raised,  and  was 
now  hanging  safe  at  the  Daybreak's  davits.] 

Harry  and  Joe  followed  Coverly  out  of  the 
steerage,  all  three  making  their  way  to  the  top- 
gallant forecastle.  Evening  had  now  fully  set  in, 
and  such  an  evening  as  is  seldom  seen  in  the 
North  Atlantic.  The  moon  had  just  risen,  and  lit 
up  the  broad  expanse  of  water  with  indescribable 


A     SPENT    SHELL.  1 53 

beauty.  The  evening  star  hung  upon  the  horizon 
just  ready,  in  seeming  disdain  of  the  broader  and 
more  common  light,  to  drop  from  view.  All 
around  were  yachts  and  merchantmen,  every  sail 
set,  the  cloudy  canvas  shining  in  the  moonbeams 
like  the  silver  drift  moving  so  lazily  through  the 
sky.  Joe  had  never  seen  such  a  perfect  night  at 
sea,  and  he  stood  looking  out  upon  the  ocean  in  a 
state  of  rapture. 

"  The  admiral  won't  let  such  a  night  as  this 
slip  by  without  some  lively  work,"  he  remarked. 

"See!"  exclaimed  Harry,  "there  goes  a  signal 
now." 

A  "Very"*  signal  that  instant  shot  from  the 
flag-ship  four  hundred  feet  into  the  air. 

"Form  in  single  column,"  Joe  read  from  this 
color-telegraphy,  as  it  might  be  called,  as  the 
ciphers  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succession 
into  the  sky. 

The  vessels  which  had  been  sailing  in  no  par- 
ticular order,  now  proceeded  to  form  in  single 
column. 

"Now  for  the  naval  tactics!"  exclaimed  our 
hero,  greatly  delighted  at  the  prospect. 

In  a  kind  of  transport  he  and  Harry  stood  read- 
ing the  different  orders  of  the  commander-in-chief, 
in  the  bright  colors  which,  from  time  to  time,  were 
projected  into  the  sky. 

*  The  name  of  the  inventor  of  this  signal. 


154  A     SPENT    SHELL. 

"I  guess  he's  going  through  all  the  formations," 
observed  Harry,  as  the  signals  multiplied,  and  the 
whole  sky  seemed  interjected  with  the  pyrotech- 
nic symbols. 

If  there  was  an  order  of  battle  in  which  the 
ships  did  not  now  arrange  themselves,  it  was 
unknown  to  Joe  and  Harry.  And  the  movements 
were  quite  intelligible  to  them.  They  had  been 
picking  them  up  from  the  war  game  in  which  they 
had  been  invited  to  participate  several  times. 
For  a  long  time  the  ships  proceeded  to  manoeuvre 
in  line,  in  column,  in  echelon.  Now  they  were  in 
offensive  order  or  order  of  chase,  now  in  defensive 
order  or  order  of  retreat.  At  one  time  they  would 
forge  ahead  as  if  in  pursuit  of  an  enemy;  then 
they  would  fall  into  position  as  for  the  protection 
of  a  convoy. 

The  scientific  knowledge  displayed  by  these 
fledgelings  on  the  top-gallant  forecastle  was  alto- 
gether bewildering.  They  talked  about  the  co- 
efficients of  speed,  the  co-efficients  of  helm,  and 
so  forth,  in  a  way  that  would  have  amazed  Lord 
Nelson  or  Commodore  Decatur,  had  either  been 
present  as  listeners.  But  if  we  cannot,  with  Joe 
and  Harry,  appreciate  the  scientific  features  of 
this  display,  with  them  we  can  be  impressed  by 
the  splendor  of  the  scene  ;  the  glorious  night,  and 
the  stately  ships  moving  in  such  perfect  order 
upon  the  beautiful  moonlit  sea. 


A    SPENT    SHELL.  155 

"Things  will  be  livelier  to-morrow,"  said  Harry. 
"I  guess  I'll  turn  in  now.  I've  been  out  of  my 
hammock  just  eighteen  hours,"  he  added,  yawning 
and  looking  at  his  watch  in  the  bright  moonlight. 

"I  think  I'll  ask  for  an  hour's  extension,"  said 
Joe.  "Mr.  Bloomsbury  told  me  to  give  my  days 
and  nights  to  torpedoes." 

Joe  was  granted  the  extension,  which  meant 
that  he  could  burn  his  candle  till  eleven  o'clock. 
He  reached  his  quarters  just  in  time  to  roll 
Schopy  back  to  the  middle  of  the  table,  on  which 
he  lay  sound  asleep.  The  rolling  of  the  ship  had 
carried  him  perilously  near  the  edge.  This  dan- 
ger, Joe  presumed,  was  what  Coverly  alluded  to 
when  he  spoke  about  sleeping  on  the  table.  A 
sleeping  middy,  should  he  fall  from  his  perch, 
whether  it  be  a  cot,  hammock,  or  table,  generally 
lights  on  his  nose,  and  Joe  knew  that  a  disfigured 
nose  in  the  Navy  is  usually  extremely  uncompli- 
mentary to  its  possessor,  and  decidedly  inimical  to 
his  promotion. 

But  in  a  few  minutes  he  was  completely  ab- 
sorbed in  torpedoes.  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  with  whom 
he  was  associated  a  great  deal  in  the  way  of  duty, 
advised  him  to  give  all  the  attention  possible  to 
torpedo  warfare ;  and  Joe  was  acting  upon  his 
advice,  and  studying  under  his  direction.  But  as 
usual  when  he  sat  down  to  study,  he  was  destined 
to  interruption.      He  was  no  sooner  hard  at  work 


I56  A  SPENT  SHELL. 

than  the  engines  came  to  a  sudden  standstill. 
This  was  followed  by  a  low  call  from  the  officer  of 
the  deck  for  the  drummer  to  stand  by  to  beat  to 
general  quarters.  Giving  Swem  and  Harry  a 
shake,  and  telling  them  in  a  whisper  what  was 
about  to  take  place,  Joe  hastened  to  get  his  sword 
and  a  navy  revolver,  that  he  might  be  the  first 
officer  at  his  station  when  the  call  should  be 
given. 

Night  exercises  at  great  guns  on  board  a  man- 
of-war  are  kept  a  profound  secret  as  to  the  time  of 
having  them.  The  reason  is,  to  insure  prompt 
intelligent  action  on  the  part  of  officers  and  crews. 
War  is  full  of  surprises,  and  the  personation  of 
war,  so  far  as  practicable,  is  the  chief  business  of 
military  establishments  in  time  of  peace.  Naval 
artillerists  are  to  be  so  perfect  in  their  art  that,  on 
the  darkest  night,  without  even  the  aid  of  a  bat- 
tle lantern,  they  can  execute  as  good  work  with 
a  ship's  battery  as  in  the  broad  day — at  least,  this 
is  the  way  Joe  explained  it  in  Aroostook  County. 

The  Daybreak's  crew  had  been  putting  this  and 
that  together,  and,  while  the  watch  on  deck  were 
all  ready  to  spring  for  their  guns,  the  watch  below 
were  sleeping  with  one  ear  open.  They  all  pos- 
sessed a  fondness  for  general  exercises  which 
amounted  to  a  passion.  Joe  could  hear  the  men 
below  slipping  stealthily  out  of  their  hammocks, 
and  feeling  around  after  their  shoes.     There  was 


A     SPENT    SHELL.  I  57 

that  almost  audible,  stillness  by  which  he  knew 
that  every  man  and  boy  was  aware  of  what 
was  going  to  take  place.  He  laughed  outright 
to  see  old  Binder  with  his  fingers  in  Enoch 
Long's  hair.  Long  had  become  so  engrossed  in 
preparing  himself  for  action  that  by  mistake  he 
had  put  on  Binder's  shoes,  and  in  the  above  sum- 
mary manner  Binder  was  trying  to  lift  him  out  of 
them.  In  the  steerage,  Schopy  was  knocking 
about  trying  to  recall  where  he  had  left  his  trou- 
sers, which,  for  the  life  of  him,  he  could  not  do. 
Joe  good-naturedly  lent  him  a  hand  in  the  search, 
and  in  a  moment  found  them  in  a  corner,  fastened 
down  with  a  dumb-bell. 

"Wouldn't  it  have  been  dreadful,  Schopy,"  he 
said,  "  if  you  had  had  to  go  to  your  quarters  with- 
out them  ? " 

All  this  time  the  Daybreak  was  waiting  to  catch 
the  first  beat  of  the  flag-ship's  drum.  Presently 
it  came.  Its  quick  vibrations  sounded  over  the 
water,  the  drums  on  all  the  other  ships  rattled  off 
the  call,  and  fifteen  hundred  men  sprang  to  their 
quarters  as  if  on  a  call  to  actual  battle.  The  ex- 
ercises were  to  be  as  though  the  squadron  had 
been  attacked  suddenly,  and  had  to  fight  at  close 
quarters  ;  and  everything  was  to  depend  on  rapid 
firing.  The  ship  that  got  in  the  first  shot,  and 
the  gun's  crew  that  fired  it,  would  be  the  cham- 
pion ship  and  crew. 


I58  A     SPENT    SHELL. 

No  stronger  incentive  was  necessary  to  keep 
the  Daybreak's  men  breathless  with  excitement, 
while  in  divisions  of  gun's  crews  they  waited  the 
order,  "Cast  loose  and  provide."  The  ship  was 
now  so  still  that  nothing  could  be  heard  but  the 
low  lapping  of  the  sea  against  her  sides.  Joe 
stood  at  his  gun  all  keyed  up  for  the  contest, 
determined  that  his  gun's  crew,  if  possible,  should 
win. 

In  low  tones  Mr.  Moncrief  delivered  the  orders 
from  the  bridge.  Everything  moved  like  clock- 
work. The  powder  from  the  magazines  was  on 
time,  and  the  guns  were  handled  with  the  perfect 
ease  which  comes  from  constant  practise.  Joe 
had  spared  no  pains  in  instructing  his  gun's  crew, 
and  he  now  watched  them  like  an  eagle  to  correct 
the  slightest  blunder  that  might  occur.  No  sooner 
had  the  rammers senthome  the  charge  than  in  his 
anxiety  to  score  the  first  shot  at  the  word  "prime," 
he  seized  a  priming  wire  himself,  and  making 
sure  that  the  vent  was  clear,  inserted  a  primer 
in  it,  then,  taking  the  lock-lanyard  from  the  gun 
captain's  hand,  he  stood  waiting  the  command, 
"fire!"  from  the  bridge.  Repeating  it  after  the 
executive  officer  when  it  was  spoken,  he  brought 
the  hammer  down  with  tremendous  force,  and  the 
suppressed  murmur  of  exultation  from  his  gun's 
crew  told  to  whom  the  championship  belonged. 
A    brisk    cannonading    ensued.      Ship    after    ship 


A     SPENT    SHELL.  I  59 

thundered  whole  broadsides  of  blank  cartridges 
off  into  the  stillness  of  the  night.  In  time  of  war 
the  report  would  have  sent  consternation  into  the 
cities  and  villages  on  the  contiguous  islands  and 
mainland. 

According  to  the  usual  course  of  night  quarters 
at  sea,  all  was  passing  well,  and  orders  were  about 
to  be  given,  calling  away  marines,  riflemen  and 
boarders,  as  provided  for  in  the  ordnance  instruc- 
tions, when  an  incident  occurred,  but  for  which,  all 
this  commotion  would  have  been  a  commonplace 
man-of-war  exercise.  Just  as  the  last  gun  of  the 
Daybreak's  battery  had  been  discharged  there  came 
crashing  through  the  rigging  something  that  might 
have  been  a  meteorite,  or  it  might  have  been  a 
spent  shell.  At  least,  this  was  the  first  thought 
of  the  startled  officers  and  crew,  as  it  tore  its  way 
down  to  the  deck.  With  a  tremendous  thump  it 
shook  the  Daybreak  from  stem  to  stern.  Fortu- 
nately it  struck  just  over  a  heavy  timber,  which 
prevented  its  breaking  through  the  deck.  Tear- 
ing up  the  planking  all  around,  with  a  slight, 
ricochetting  motion,  it  rolled  aft.  A  bright  glow 
at  one  end  of  this  object  instantly  showed  that  it 
was  a  shell  fired  by  accident  from  some  other  ship. 
If  the  doctor's  skeleton  had  as  suddenly  appeared, 
and  begun  a  promenade  from  top-gallant  forecastle 
to  cabin,  the  sensation  would  not  have  been  so 
profound    as    that    now   produced    by   the    abrupt 


160  A     SPENT    SHELL. 

appearance  of  this  strange  visitor.  On  it  went, 
setting  men  and  boys  scampering  out  of  its  path 
in  the  liveliest  manner.  Enoch  Long  had  a  call 
to  the  tip  end  of  the  bowsprit,  and  Swem  seemed 
very  anxious  about  something  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. Presently,  after  turning  to  wreck  and  ruin  a 
large  portion  of  the  wardroom  hatch  coaming,  it 
stopped,  and  hung  just  ready  at  a  slight  roll  or 
pitch  of  the  ship  to  fall  below,  where  it  must  have 
instantly  exploded  just  forward  of  the  magazine. 

The  shell  happened  to  stop  just  abreast  of 
where  Joe  stood  superintending  the  securing  of 
his  gun.  From  the  instant  it  bounded  through 
the  rigging  he  realized  the  imminency  of  the  dan- 
ger. He  quickly  made  up  his  mind  as  to  what 
would  have  to  be  done.  If  the  shell  should  ex- 
plode it  would  be  a  terrible  accident.  There  were 
white  faces  all  around.  Suddenly  the  shell  stopped, 
poised  directly  over  the  hatchway.  Another  roll 
of  the  ship  would  send  it  down.  Joe  saw  his 
opportunity.  Having  previously  cast  aside  his 
sword,  he  sprang  for  the  shell.  Catching  it  at 
either  end  he  swung  it  from  the  debris,  and  ran 
with  all  his  might  across  the  deck  to  the  nearest 
port,  from  which  he  launched  it  into  the  sea.  A 
cheer,  which  neither  Captain  Farradale  nor  Mr- 
Moncrief  felt  inclined  to  suppress,  greeted  our 
hero's  prompt  and  gallant  action. 


CHAPTER  XL 


A    MYSTERIOUS    VOICE. 


THE  shell  which  fell  to  the  Daybreak's  deck 
had  been  accidentally  left  in  the  gun  from 
which  it  was  discharged  during  some  former  exer- 
cise at  great  guns.  As  it  now  went  screeching 
through  the  air,  the  greatest  consternation  pre- 
vailed lest  it  should  find  a  target  in  one  of  the 
other  ships.  All  listened  breathlessly  for  the 
explosion  which  it  was  thought  would  surely  fol- 
low. A  great  sigh  of  relief  went  up  when  it 
became  certain  that  the  fuse  had  either  gone  out, 
or  the  missile  had  prematurely  struck  the  water. 
The  vessels  nearest  the  Daybreak  heard  it  as  it 
entered  her  rigging  and  fell  with  a  heavy  thud  to 
her  deck,  and  a  fearful  casualty  seemed  for  the 
moment  inevitable.  As  Joe  deposited  it  in  that 
safest  of  all  magazines,  the  sea,  he  caught  the 
gleam  of  several  glasses  pointed  at  the  Daybreak 
in  sure  expectancy  of  her  going  up,  or  rather 
down. 

Before  our  hero  had  recovered  his  equipoise,  the 
cheer  having  had  a  worse    effect   upon   him  than 
161 


l62  A    MYSTERIOUS    VOICE. 

the  shell,  Captain  Farradale  added  to  his  embar- 
rassment by  calling  him  forward  and  thanking  him 
most  cordially  for  what  he  had  done.  This  was 
followed  by  congratulations  from  the  different  offi- 
cers in  painful  profusion.  But  the  worst  of  it  all 
was  after  the  drum  beat  retreat,  he  was  forced  to 
be  present  at  an  improvised  spread  in  the  ward- 
room, at  which  he  partook  so  bountifully  of  pate 
de  foie  gras,  that  shortly  after,  when  he  went  on 
deck  to  relieve  Cadet  Austey  for  the  mid-watch, 
he  wondered  whether  he  did  not  feel  more  like 
the  deceased  geese  whose  livers  he  had  eaten 
than  the  gallant  middy  everybody  seemed  deter- 
mined on  making  him  out. 

The  ships  had  left  Newport  under  sealed  orders, 
not  to  be  opened  till  midnight.  The  great  mys- 
tery was  now  disclosed  :  The  whole  squadron  was 
directed  to  proceed  without  delay  to  Gardiner's 
Bay.  This  beautiful  little  body  of  water,  with  its 
embroidery  of  pretty  islands,  seems  more  like  an 
inland 'lake  than  an  inlet  of  the  sea.  It  lies  out  of 
the  track  of  commerce,  and  is  singularly  free  from 
dangers.  With  the  island  of  the  same  name  for 
its  eastern  shore,  it  forms,  perhaps,  the  best  ren- 
dezvous for  naval  exercises  of  every  sort  north  of 
Key  West. 

Joe's  watch  proved  to  be  rather  an  exciting  one, 
but  none  the  less  pleasing  to  him.  Every  minute 
or  two  the  light  of  some  vessel,  or  the  flash  of 


A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE.  1 63 

some  distant  light-house  hove  in  view,  keeping  him 
very  busy  running  with  messages  to  the  officer  of 
the  deck.  Once  he  feared  that  he  had  fallen  into 
serious  trouble.  The  Daybreak's  main  yard  be- 
came entangled  with  a  schooner's  rigging,  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  which  was  carried  away. 

It  was  not  to  be  wondered  at,  either,  for  the 
schooner's  lights  were  all  in,  and  her  captain  and 
crew  peacefully  sleeping  in  their  bunks.  Besides, 
a  heavy  mist  had  fallen,  completely  shutting  her 
out  from  Joe's  keen  sight.  As  the  Daybreak  got 
clear  without  damage  to  herself,  Joe  wished  heart- 
ily that  he  could  have  fired  a  whole  broadside  of 
blank  cartridges  into  the  schooner's  side  to  give 
her  a  startling  and  much-needed  lesson. 

The  Sound  steamers,  on  their  passage  east,  now 
began  to  close  in  around  them,  and  in  addition  to 
the  fog,  a  hoarse  chorus  of  whistles  made  it  diffi- 
cult to  keep  the  bearings  of  each  one.  Dicky 
Dawson,  who  always  hung  about  Joe  when  they 
were  on  watch  together,  stood  with  him  search- 
ing the  fog  for  these  great  phantoms,  the  nightly 
terror  of  Long  Island  Sound.  Suddenly  —  almost 
on  the  instant — the  fog  thinned,  disclosing  one 
of  the  largest  of  the  steamers,  a  huge  white  shape, 
off  on  the  port  bow.  The  flood  of  moonlight 
which  burst  upon  her  as  she  broke  out  of  the 
retreating  mist  caused  her  to  stand  out  as  clearly 
as  at  full  dawn. 


1 64  A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE. 

"I  begs  pardon,  sir,"  said  Dicky,  "not  a  wishin' 
to  put  in  my  oar,  but  that's  a  strange  figger  a 
wanderin'  round  there  on  the  hurricane  deck." 

Joe  looked  sharply.  He  saw  a  lady  who  was 
either  walking  in  her  sleep  or  else  suffering  from 
some  mental  aberration.  She  had  a  weird,  wild 
look  ;  her  hair  was  flying  in  the  breeze  raised  by 
the  swift  motion  of  the  steamer,  but  an  absence  of 
all  gestures  convinced  Joe  that  it  was  nothing 
more  than  a  case  of  somnambulism.  But  how 
could  the  woman  leave  her  state-room  unobserved, 
he  wondered.  No  one  on  board  the  steamer  knew 
of  her  strange  conduct,  or  was  aware  of  her  great 
peril. 

"There  she  goes!"  cried  Dicky,  the  fire  leap- 
ing to  his  eyes. 

Joe  trembled  and  turned  pale,  for  at  that  mo- 
ment the  woman  stepped  over  the  slight  railing 
surrounding  the  deck,  and  deliberately  walked  or 
jumped  into  the  sea.  As  she  struck  the  water  a 
frightened  cry  went  out  into  the  night.  Before 
Joe  had  recovered  himself  sufficiently  to  utter  a 
word,  Dawson  had  plunged  over  the  Daybreak's 
rail,  and  was  making  bold  strokes  to  the  rescue. 
The  would-be  tragedy  was  also  witnessed  by  Cap- 
tain Farradale  and  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  who  were 
standing  on  the  bridge.  As  Joe  ran  aft,  two  sharp 
strokes  of  the  engine-room  bell,  accompanied  by 
orders  to  let  go  a  buoy  and  call  away  one  of  the 


A    MYSTERIOUS    VOICE.  l6$ 

whale-boats,  apprised  him  that  his  report  was 
unnecessary.  This  was  followed  by  a  signal  to 
the  steamer,  which  was  going  on  as  though  noth- 
ing had  happened,  to  heave  to. 

"Bear  a  hand  with  that  boat,"  shouted  Mr. 
Bloomsbury,  as  the  boat  went  down  very  slowly. 
"The  woman  will  drown,  if  you  don't  look  alive." 

"  Something's  jammed,  sir,"  came  back  in  a 
flustered  tone. 

Whatever  it  was  Joe's  knife  quickly  mastered, 
and  the  boat  went  down  with  a  run. 

"Put  her  on  board  the  steamer,  "  called  Captain 
Farradale  as  Joe  shoved  off. 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,"  called  back  our  hero. 

Joe  saw  that  the  steamer  had  understood  the 
signal,  and  was  backing  water  as  fast  as  possible. 
He  also  discovered  three  men  tuning  for  dear 
life  to  lower  a  boat,  which,  as  is  generally  the 
case  at  such  times,  was  hermetically  sealed,  and 
would  not  budge  from  the  davits.  At  the  same 
time  he  saw  Dawson  buoying  up  the  woman  with 
great  coolness  and  much  skill.  Owing  to  his  supe- 
rior art  in  aquatics,  he  was  floating  with  his  bur- 
den as  quietly  as  though  they  had  been  on  a  life- 
raft  ;  before  sighting  the  boat  he  had  started  to 
swim  off  to  the  Daybreak's  buoy,  which  shone  like 
a  beacon  not  far  away.  All  the  time  he  talked  to 
the  lady  in  his  quaint  fashion,  assuring  her  that 
there  was  not  the  slightest  danger.     As  the  boat 


l66  A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE. 

came  near,  Joe  overheard  a  little  of  the  conversa- 
tion. "There,  mum,"  said  Dawson,  "they're  arter 
yer  now.  Jest  keep  still  when  they  pulls  yer  in,  an' 
don't  flop  round." 

"There  are  sharks  here,"  said  the  lady  in  a 
frightened  tone,  giving  a  nervous  start,  as  if  one 
had  touched  her  with  his  fin. 

"No,  no,  mum;  don't  you  be  afeared.  There 
ain't  no  sharks  here.  Sharks  doesn't  like  no  sich 
delicit  bait  as  you  be.  I's  been  in  a  whole  school 
on  'em  myself,  an'  they  didn't  so  much  as  smell  o' 
me." 

Dawson  spoke  so  soothingly  that  his  dialect 
had  as  good  an  effect  upon  the  woman's  excited 
nerves  as  though  he  had  spoken  the  purest  Eng- 
lish. 

It  took  but  a  moment  to  get  him  and  his  fair 
burden  into  the  boat.  The  steamer  had  come  to 
a  standstill,  and  Joe  headed  immediately  for  her. 
While  he  was  making  the  lady  as  comfortable  as 
possible  with  his  blouse  and  a  piece  of  tarpaulin, 
she  managed  to  tell  him  that  she  knew  nothing  of 
what  had  happened  until  she  was  awakened  by 
striking  the  water.  She  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears 
when  contemplating  the  grief  of  her  husband  and 
two  little  girls,  whom  she  had  left  sleeping  in  their 
state-room,  had  she  not  been  rescued.  Joe  tried 
to  comfort  her  by  reminding  her  of  their  great  joy 
in  having-  her  restored  to  them.      His  words  had  a 


A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE.  1 67 

soothing  effect.  As  he  continued  she  became  less 
hysterical. 

Joe  could  now  see  that  hundreds  of  people,  in 
every  description  of  attire,  had  come  upon  deck ; 
there  was  wild  confusion  everywhere.  A  glance 
among  the  men  assured  him  that  they  had  not 
neglected  to  provide  themselves  with  life-preserv- 
ers. Some  of  them  stood  all  poised  for  a  leap 
into  the  sea ;  others  were  prepared  to  do  so  if  the 
emergency  required.  Joe  could  not  make  out  that 
any  attention  worth  speaking  of  had  been  bestowed 
upon  the  women  and  children  by  their  natural  pro- 
tectors. Evidently  they  all  thought  something 
had  happened  to  the  steamer,  and  they  must  look 
out  for  their  own  precious  lives  first.  By  the 
time  the  boat  had  been  brought  round  under  the 
steamer's  guard,  order  was  restored  among  the  pas- 
sengers. As  our  hero,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
crew,  lifted  the  lady  to  the  steamer's  deck,  the 
delighted  cries  of  two  little  girls  and  the  ecstatic 
demonstrations  of  a  gentleman  greeted  him. 

In  the  excitement  the  boat  was  forgotten,  and 
Joe  was  obliged  to  ask  for  the  return  of  his  blouse. 
Once  again  in  his  uniform  he  shoved  off  unnoticed, 
and  was  making  quick  strokes  for  the  Daybreak, 
But  a  hail  from  the  captain  of  the  steamer  was  a 
signal  for  him  to  heave  to. 

"What  vessel  does  that  boat  belong  to,  sir?" 
he  called. 


1 68  A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE. 

"United  States  Ship  Daybreak,  sir,"  returned 
Joe. 

"And  the  officer  of  the  boat?"  continued  the 
captain. 

"  Naval  Cadet  Bently,  sir,"  was  the  prompt 
reply. 

To  his  surprise  Joe  heard  a  passenger,  evidently 
a  young  lady,  say  very  distinctly,  "  Why,  mamma, 
that's  Joe  Bently  that  answered  the  captain." 

"  Give  my  compliments  to  Captain  Farradale," 
said  the  captain,  who  seemed  to  know  the  com- 
manding officer  of  the  Daybreak,  "and  thank  him 
for  his  timely  assistance." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,"  called  Joe,  as  he  once  more  or- 
dered the  men  to  give  way. 

The  strange  voice  puzzled  Joe.  On  his  way 
back  to  the  Daybreak  two  white  handkerchiefs 
continued  to  flutter.  Who  could  it  be,  he  won- 
dered. The  tone  did  not  sound  familiar.  Could 
it  have  been  Katie  Aston  who  spoke  ?  Impossi- 
ble !  There  was  not  an  accent  that  reminded  him 
of  her.  Besides,  she  was  at  this  time  doubtless 
getting  ready  for  the  much  talked  of  cruise  in  the 
Celeste.  No,  think  of  it  as  he  would,  he  could  get 
no  clue  to  his  mysterious  friends  on  board  the 
steamer. 

"  Up  to  your  old  tricks,  I  see,  Dawson,"  said 
Mr.  Bloomsbury  as  the  party  climbed  on  board  the 
Daybreak.      "  Give  my  compliments  to  the  surgeon, 


A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE.  169 

and  ask  him  to  give  you  a  ration  of  whiskey.  A 
full  ration,  mind  ;  you're  all  of  a  shiver." 

"No  fear  but  I'll  ask  for  a  full  one,  sir,"  said 
Dawson,  grinning. 

'„'  I  wish  to  see  you  at  the  mast  to-morrow  morn- 
ing at  nine  o'clock,"  said  Captain  Farradale. 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,"  said  Dicky,  hurrying  below. 

When  Joe  came  on  deck  the  next  morning,  Daw- 
son was  the  first  sailor-man  he  saw.  He  stood 
waiting  for  him  just  forward  of  the  mainmast. 
He  looked  very  happy  and  was  pulling  away  at  his 
pipe  all  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  it  had  no  more 
fire  in  it  than  an  extinct  volcano.  As  Joe  leaned 
over  the  rail  to  take  a  look  at  Gardiner's  Bay  and 
its  environments,  all  the  vessels  meanwhile  having 
come  to  an  anchor,  Dawson  approached  him  very 
respectfully,  and  told  him  that  Captain  Farradale 
had  given  him  a  billet. 

"What  is  it  ?  "  asked  Joe,  greatly  pleased. 

"Coxswain  o'  the  capen's  gig,  sir." 

"Good  enough,"  he  exclaimed;  "I  knew  some- 
thing was  coming."  And  he  grasped  Dawson 
warmly  by  the  hand. 

"  The  luck's  never  long  ag'in  old  Dicky  Dawson, 
sir;  the  luck's  never  long  ag'in  him.  He's  like  a 
rubber  ball.  He  squeezes  all  up  in  yer  hand,  but 
let  go  on  him  and  he  puffs  out  jest  the  same  as 
ever.  When  I  seed  you  a-comin'  over  the  side, 
sir,  I   knowed  the  storm  was  a  clearin'  for  Dicky 


I70  A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE. 

Dawson.  When  I  sees  a  cloud  a-tryin'  to  pin 
itself  together  with  a  star,  I  doesn't  need  no  ba- 
rometer to  tell  me  that  good  weather's  a-comin'." 

"You'll  be  careful,  and  not  forfeit  it  this  time, 
won't  you?"  said  Joe,  quietly. 

"I's  done  with  whiskey,  sir;  that  is,  leavin'  out 
medicine,  when  I  gits  saterated  like  I  was  last 
night,"  gravely  replied  Dawson. 

Joe  had  barely  ceased  congratulating  his  old 
friend  on  his  good  fortune,  when  a  cadet  arrived 
from  the  flag-ship  with  a  message  for  Captain  Far- 
radale.  The  captain  happened  to  be  standing  near 
the  mast,  and  the  message,  which  was  in  truth  an 
order  from  the  admiral,  could  be  heard  distinctly 
all  around  the  deck. 

"The  admiral  sends  his  compliments,  sir,"  said 
the  cadet,  "  and  desires  the  Daybreak's  battalion 
to  be  ready  at  the  shortest  possible  notice  to  land 
with  the  naval  brigade  on  Gardiner's  Island.  He 
wishes  also  to  see  Lieutenant  Bloomsbury  on  board 
the  flag-ship  without  delay." 

"Something's  in  the  wind,"  thought  Joe  ;  "he's 
rushing  things  so." 

Later  instructions  indicated  that  the  admiral 
wished  to  see  in  how  short  a  time  the  naval  brig- 
ade could  be  landed,  fight  a  sham  battle,  and  go 
into  camp,  to  remain  on  shore,  possibly  one  night ; 
then  to  break  camp  and  return  to  the  several  ships. 

"It's  come,  you   see,   according  to  prediction," 


A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE.  \J\ 

said  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  intercepting  Joe  on  his  way 
to  the  steerage,  displaying  a  highly-pleased  man- 
ner over  the  news.  "  I've  suspected  it  all  along. 
I  like  expedition,  but  this  is  precipitation.  How- 
ever, it's  all  right.  It  suits  me  exactly.  In  time 
of  war,  you  know,  we'd  often  get  into  scrapes  that 
would  require  as  great  haste  as  this.  But  I'm 
sorry  you'll  have  so  much  to  see  to,"  he  added. 
"The  admiral  has  appointed  me  military  engineer 
of  the  expedition." 

"What  will  I  have  to  do?"   asked  Joe. 

"  Get  the  company  ready  and  superintend  the 
stowing  of  the  boats.  I'll  be  back  by  the  time 
you're  ready  to  shove  off,"  and  Mr.  Bloomsbury 
disappeared  over  the  side  in  obedience  to  the 
admiral's  summons.      Joe  felt  rather  bewildered. 

As  soon  as  he  was  clear  of  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  Mr. 
Moncrief  sent  for  him,  with  Swem  and  Harry,  to 
meet  him  on  the  port  side  of  the  quarter  deck. 
This  would  have  been  very  amusing  had  it  not 
been  such  a  common  occurrence.  Whenever 
Schopy  was  to  be  lectured  on  his  delinquencies,  or 
to  receive  special  instructions  concerning  a  cadet's 
duties,  all  three  had  to  be  present.  Then  Mr. 
Moncrief  never  addressed  them  individually,  but 
collectively  ;  so  that  at  times,  as  Harry  remarked, 
they  could  hardly  tell  whom  he  was  hitting.  Joe 
and  Harry  had  often  to  argue  themselves  out  of 
the    notion  that  they  were  not  the  real  culprits. 


172  A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE. 

Mr.  Moncrief's  form  of  address  made  it  much 
easier  for  Swem,  for  which,  on  the  whole,  Joe  was 
not  sorry.  This  time,  however,  he  wished  to  give 
some  instruction  as  to  landing. 

For  the  benefit  of  our  boy  readers  we  will  add, 
if  they  will  take  the  trouble  to  look  up  the  mean- 
ing of  the  words  in  the  dictionary,  that  in  laying 
down  their  duties,  he  was  much  more  categorical 
than  didactic. 

Joe  was  greatly  in  dread  lest  Mr.  Moncrief 
should  appoint  him  his  aid  for  the  expedition,  but 
that  position  had  already  fallen  to  a  higher  rank 
than  his  own,  that  of  Arlington.  Just  as  Mr. 
Moncrief  was  about  to  dismiss  them,  the  order 
was  passed  to  get  ready  for  the  landing.  And 
with  a  few  words  of  admonition,  really  meant  for 
Swem,  but,  according  to  the  custom,  distributed 
impartially  among  the  three,  he  let  them  go. 

Joe  had  studied  up  the  subject  of  landing  par- 
ties, and  had  made  an  inventory  of  articles  neces- 
sary to  be  taken.  It  now  stood  him  in  good  stead. 
His  first  duty  was  to  improvise  several  tents,  in 
place  of  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  whose  work  it  would 
have  been  had  he  not  been  called  away.  At  first 
he  was  greatly  puzzled  over  the  matter,  but  at  last 
hit  upon  an  ingenious  contrivance.  Two  boat- 
masts,  he  thought,  would  serve  as  end  pieces, 
while  a  stunsail-boom  would  make  a  good  ridge- 
pole.     The    end  pieces  being  securely  guyed,   an 


A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE.  1 73 

awning  or  sail  could  then  be  spread  over  the 
frame-work  and  hauled  out  to  pegs  driven  down  at 
regular  intervals  all  around.  The  leeches  of  the 
sail  would  serve  as  fastenings,  and  the  work  could 
be  completed  by  closing  the  ends  of  the  tent  with 
light  sails,  thus  providing  quarters  good  enough  for 
a  major-general  in  the  field. 

Joe  was  much  pleased  with  this  first  success. 
He  next  turned  his  attention  to  the  men's  outfit. 
This  gave  him  less  trouble  than  he  expected.  He 
had  been  careful  to  see  that  each  man  in  his  divi- 
sion was  furnished  with  leggings,  a  knife,  a  change 
of  clothing  and  two  blankets.  The  extra  suit  of 
clothes,  blankets,  and  a  bountiful  supply  of  tobacco, 
all  rolled  up  in  a  hammock,  would  constitute  each 
man's  personal  baggage.  Joe  was  very  careful 
to  see  that  every  tobacco  ration  was  far  in  excess 
of  the  most  ravenous  appetite  for  its  consumption  ; 
and  he  thought  what  a  fortunate  circumstance  it 
was  that  there  was  no  grog  to  go  along.  For  that 
ration,  to  the  honor  of  the  Navy,  had  been  abol- 
ished. In  addition  to  this  baggage,  each  man 
would  have  to  carry  a  pot,  pan  and  spoon,  slung  to 
his  waist-belt.  These,  Joe  thought,  in  an  enemy's 
country,  where  foraging  was  not  over-good,  might 
be  regarded  as  more  formidable  weapons  than  any 
arms  that  could  be  carried. 

Joe's  last  and  most  responsible  work  was  when 
the  order  was  given  to  fit  out  the  boats.      As   Mr. 


174  A     MYSTERIOUS    VOICE. 

Bloomsbury  could  not  be  present,  he  had  that  gen- 
tleman's boat  to  stow  as  well  as  his  own.  The 
list  of  articles  he  had  made  out  now  greatly  accel- 
erated his  work.  As  they  were  brought  from 
below  and  dumped  down  on  the  deck,  he  stood 
over  them  memoranda  in  hand,  with  the  air  of  a 
connoisseur.  There  were  compasses  and  glasses, 
boxes  containing  materials  and  tools  for  repairs, 
leads  and  lines,  lanterns  and  candles ;  articles 
enough,  apparently,  to  furnish  a  cargo  for  a  small 
schooner.  All  these  were  to  go  in  two  small 
boats,  together  with  two  tents,  a  large  quantity  of 
provisions,  a  breech  loading  rifle  and  a  Gatling 
gun,  to  say  nothing  of  the  boats'  crews,  with  their 
baggage  and  arms.  In  all  probability,  Caesar's 
galleys  did  not  have  a  quarter  part  of  the  outfit  for 
a  passage  across  the  Adriatic  Sea. 

Joe  was  surprised  when  with  his  own  hands  he 
began  to  stow  the  boats,  to  see  how  quickly  things 
got  hidden  away ;  and  when  the  last  of  the  para- 
phernalia was  in  place,  he  regarded  his  work  with 
great  satisfaction.  It  was  with  no  little  pride  that 
he  ran  up  the  gangway  and  reported  to  Mr.  Mon- 
crief  that  the  boats  were  ready  for  service. 

He  had  just  time  to  go  below  and  get  on  his 
leggings  and  side-arms,  which  consisted  of  a  sword 
and  revolver,  with  a  cartridge  box,  when  a  call  was 
made  for  the  flotilla  to  form. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE     NAVAL     BRIGADE. 


WHEN  Joe  came  on  deck  amusing  sights 
awaited  him.  Indeed,  it  would  have  taken 
a  more  dignified  cadet  than  he  prided  himself  on 
being,  not  to  have  been  amused  at  what  he  saw. 
Hubbins,  who  was  serving  as  quarter-master's 
assistant,  stood  in  front  of  the  cooks,  mess-cooks 
and  servants,  trying  to  conceal  his  wrath.  An 
insult  had  been  offered  him,  so  he  believed.  He 
had  just  returned  from  transporting  a  barrel  of 
cooked  pork,  a  barrel  of  bean  soup,  with  bread 
and  coffee  sufficient  for  one  meal,  to  Gardiner's 
Island,  and  was  about  to  re-embark  at  the  head  of 
a  squad,  bearing  scouse-kettles,  coffee  pots,  buck- 
ets, division  tubs  and  other  impedimenta.  He, 
who  might  have  been  an  admiral  by  this  time, 
having  to  do  all  this  !  "  Why,"  he  reflected,  "  I 
might  have  been  in  command  of  this  very  expedi- 
tion." He  could  hardly  have  looked  more  forlorn 
had  he  been  a  Russian  exile  banished  to  Siberia 
for  a  too  ardent  espousal  of  Nihilism. 

Coverly,  who  feared    that    he   might   encounter 
175 


I76  THE     NAVAL     BRIGADE. 

marshy  places  in  his  advances  and  retreats  on  the 
island  —  at  least,  this  was  his  explanation  —  had 
borrowed  a  pair  of  the  chief  engineer's  boots. 
The  boots  were  altogether  too  large  for  his  feet. 
He  looked  as  if  he  might  have  been  let  down  into 
them  as  some  light  object  is  let  down  into  a  big 
boat.  Joe  more  than  half  suspected  Coverly's 
innocence  in  the  affair.  A  slight  twitching  about 
the  corners  of  his  mouth,  as  well  as  other  signs, 
went  to  prove  that  the  boots  had  not  been  adopted 
altogether  for  the  purpose  of  self-protection.  Joe 
wondered  that  the  captain  of  marines,  or  Mr.  Mon- 
crief,  both  of  whom  looked  very  sharply  at  Cov- 
erly's feet,  did  not  order  him  below  to  put  on 
shoes  and  leggings  ;  but  with  his  accustomed 
happy  fortune  he  escaped  this  retribution. 

Finally  there  was  Schopy.  He  was  strapped 
up  alongside  the  surgeon's  sword,  the  new  one 
voted  by  the  committee  not  having  arrived  before 
the  Daybreak  sailed.  Swem  looked  very  sheepish 
as  he  advanced  along  the  deck,  the  elongated  hilt 
nearly  on  a  line  with  his  ear.  But  as  it  was  quite 
certain  that  there  would  be  no  weapons  drawn 
before  leaving  the  Daybreak,  he  began  to  take 
courage.  Had  occasion  required,  he  would  not 
have  been  able  to  get  this  sword  from  its  scab- 
bard without  tipping  that  receptacle  so  nearly  per- 
pendicular as  to  empty  it  out,  thus  making  a  most 
ludicrous  and  unmilitary  spectacle. 


THE     NAVAL     BRIGADE.  IJJ 

The  plan  fixed  upon  was  to  send  the  marines 
from  the  different  ships  on  in  advance  to  hold  the 
island.  They  were  to  oppose  the  landing  of  the 
blue-jackets,  and,  being  the  inferior  force,  were 
finally  to  succumb  ;  but  not  until  after  a  hot  con- 
test, in  which  as  many  details  of  a  battle  as  possi- 
ble were  to  be  carried  out.  It  was  to  be  a  sham 
battle  of  no  inconsiderable  proportions. 

The  vessels  had  now  all  signalled  the  flag-ship 
that  their  forces  were  ready  for  landing,  and  the 
order  was  given  to  embark.  Mr.  Moncrief  di- 
rected the  departure  of  the  Daybreak's  battalion 
from  her  deck.  The  perfect  order  in  which  all 
was  done  at  such  short  notice  was  a  matter  of 
surprise  and  delight  to  Joe.  Everybody  seemed 
familiar  with  the  battalion  station  bill,  which  had 
been  hung  up  in  different  places  around  the  ship. 
Even  Enoch  Long,  who  was  generally  credited 
with  being  the  most  awkward  and  unenlightened 
member  of  the  crew,  acquitted  himself  with  honor. 

Joe  could  hardly  make  himself  believe  that  they 
were  not  setting  forth  on  an  actual  campaign,  and 
that  bloody  battles  would  not  ensue.  Harry  was 
in  quite  an  exalted  state.  As  he  marched  his 
company  along  that  part  of  the  line  where  Joe 
stood,  he  whispered,  "This  means  blood,"  and  for 
the  instant,  Joe  almost  wished  it  did.  Presently 
the  whole  battalion  was  afloat,  and  the  flotilla  pro- 
ceeded to  form  for  the  admiral's  inspection. 


I78  THE     NAVAL     BRIGADE. 

Joe  had  never  before  witnessed  such  an  assem- 
blage of  boats.  From  the  stern  of  the  cutter  he 
could  see  a  number  of  schooners  anchored  not  far 
away,  waiting  for  a  fair  wind.  On  many  of  them 
were  the  families  of  the  captains.  These  all 
seemed  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  make  of  the  dis- 
play. Their  double-shotted  glasses  were  brought 
to  bear  on  the  boats  as  if  suspecting  them  of 
being  about  to  raise  the  black  flag,  and  they  were 
debating  whether  it  was  not  best  to  up  anchor  and 
away.  But  in  a  moment,  according  to  naval  tac- 
tics, the  divisions  of  boats  were  formed.  Skirm- 
ishers, pioneers,  infantry,  artillery,  supply  squad 
and  ambulance  corps,  each  component  of  the  bri- 
gade, fell  into  its  respective  station  as  though  this 
formation  had  been  an  every-day  occurrence. 

Joe  looked  around  carefully.  He  was  anxious 
to  understand  the  arrangement  of  the  different 
parts  of  the  brigade. 

The  skirmishers,  he  noticed,  were  in  advance, 
the  infantry  at  the  centre,  and  most  of  the  artillery 
on  the  flanks.  The  captain  of  the  flag-ship  was 
in  command  of  the  expedition.  He  was  at  a  dis- 
tant point  overlooking  the  flotilla  from  the  steam 
cutter.  This  craft  was  regarded  by  everybody  as 
a  sort  of  imperial  barge,  whose  slightest  movement 
fastened  all  eyes  upon  her.  In  the  rear  were  sev- 
eral swift-pulling  boats,  flying  the  hospital  flag,  and 
containing   surgeons,    apothecaries    and    stretcher- 


THE     NAVAL     BRIGADE.  I  ?g 

men.  Each  boat  in  the  several  lines  had  its  num- 
ber painted  in  large  figures  upon  two  separate 
pieces  of  canvas,  which  were  hung  out  one  over 
the  bow  and  the  other  over  the  stern. 

The  Daybreak's  division  of  boats  was  rendered 
quite  conspicuous  by  carrying  a  huge  Jack.  The 
name  of  the  ship  was  painted  in  the  centre  of  this 
in  large  bright  letters.  Joe  and  Harry  happened 
to  be  in  the  same  boat.  They  were  amused  to 
see  Schopy's  sword  hanging  far  out  over  the  stern 
of  the  Lady  Godiva,  to  whose  command  he  had 
been  purposely  assigned  by  Mr.  Moncrief.  His 
revolver  also  stuck  so  far  out  of  his  belt  that, 
together  with  his  huge  sword,  he  assumed  an 
uncommonly  threatening  appearance.  The  Lady 
Godiva  happened  to  be  the  next  boat  to  the  cutter 
Joe  and  Harry  were  in.  Even  a  whisper  was  per- 
fectly audible  to  everybody  in  the  two  boats. 

"Say,  Schopy,"  said  Harry,  "don't  go  rummag- 
ing around  the  island  with  that  sword." 

"Why?"  innocently  asked  Swem. 

"Because  they'll  shoot  you  for  a  pirate." 

But  all  bantering  was  presently  lost  in  the 
cadets'  admiration  of  the  flotilla.  It  made  a  very 
fine  spectacle  on  the  sparkling  waters  of  the  bay; 
the  national  colors  fluttering  from  each  boat,  each 
piece  of  ordnance,  and  every  rifle,  bayonet  and 
cutlass  furbished  to  the  brightness  of  Sheffield 
steel. 


ISO  THE     NAVAL     BRIGADE. 

"This  wouldn't  be  a  bad  showing,"  remarked 
Joe,  "  if  we  were  going  to  plant  the  flag  on  Mada- 
gascar or  up  the  Congo." 

"  I  only  wish  we  were  on  such  an  expedition," 
rejoined  Harry,  the  fire  leaping  to  his  eyes  at  the 
bare  suggestion.  "  But  we'll  never  see  anything 
but  sham  fighting  in  our  Navy,"  he  added  in  disgust. 

"Don't  be  so  sure,"  said  Joe,  smiling  at  Harry's 
disappointed  look.  "  Wars,  you  know,  are  not  cut 
and  dried  like  great  land  speculations,  though  they 
resemble  them  somewhat  when  they  get  going. 
Nations  get  mad  and  pitch  into  one  another  just 
like  individuals." 

"I  hope  some  nation  will  get  mad,  then  —  very 
soon,  and  pitch  into  us,"  rejoined  Harry.  "A 
first-class  war  would  do  this  country  good." 

"Some  nation  will  pitch  into  us,"  said  Joe,  after 
the  manner  of  a  young  oracle. 

This  warlike  conversation  took  place  while  the 
brigade,  which  was  now  afloat,  was  awaiting  the 
admiral's  inspection.  In  a  few  minutes  the  admi- 
ral appeared  on  the  bridge  of  the  flag-ship.  Barely 
raking  the  flotilla  with  the  twin  guns  of  a  field- 
glass,  he  ordered  a  signal  run  up  for  it  to  get 
under  way.  Slowly,  but  in  perfect  formation,  the 
boats  moved  forward.  The  landing  was  to  be 
stoutly  opposed  by  the  marines,  who  had  been 
sent  on  in  advance.  As  the  flotilla  approached 
the  beach,   an  order  was  given  for  all  the   boats 


THE    NAVAL    BRIGADE.  181 

carrying  machine  guns  and  howitzers  to  pall  to 
either  flank.  They  could  thus,  if  necessary,  pour 
a  galling  cross-fire  upon  the  enemy.  Mr.  Blooms- 
bury  afterwards  told  Joe  that  he  had  never  wit- 
nessed such  a  splendid  advance,  excepting  in  one 
instance  at  Key  West,  when  the  largest  force  was 
put  ashore  ever  landed  by  the  Navy. 

"How  much  ammunition  have  we  ?"  inquired 
Harry,  as  he  caught  sight  of  the  marines  ashore 
getting  ready  to  repel  the  invaders. 

"Enough  for  a  bloodier  affray  than  this  will  be," 
laughed  Joe. 

"  But  how  much  have  we  ?  "  persisted  Harry,  his 
eyes  dilating  at  the  prospect. 

"Well,"  said  Joe,  "there  are  a  thousand  rounds 
packed  in  the  feed  cases  of  the  Gatlings,  the  cais- 
son boxes  of  the  howitzers  are  stuffed  full,  each 
man  carries  twenty  rounds  in  his  cartridge  belt, 
and  the  supply  squads  hold  no  end  of  it  in  reserve. 
I  think  the  country's  safe." 

But  Harry  was  only  half  listening.  Joe  knew 
by  the  flash  of  his  eyes  that  he  was  burning  to 
catch  the  gleam  of  twenty  thousand  bayonets  along 
the  shore 

"It's  coming  now,"  exclaimed  Joe,  almost  as 
much  excited  for  the  moment  as  his  companion, 
as  an  order  was  given  for  the  skirmishers  and 
artillerists  to  clear  the  beach. 

A   loud   volley   from   the    shore    (of   blank  car- 


1 82  THE    NAVAL     BRIGADE. 

tridges)  showed  that  whatever  might  be  the  out- 
come the  marines  were  determined  to  open  the 
fight,  and  to  their  utmost  resist  the  landing 

Harry  clapped  his  hands.  Joe  felt  impelled  to 
pitch  the  young  rebel  overboard  for  thus  applaud- 
ing the  enemy. 

But  now  the  boats  opened  fire.  This  mimicry 
of  actual  battle  seemed  glorious  to  Joe.  The 
fierce  detonation  of  the  howitzers,  the  crack  of 
the  Gatlings,  louder  than  the  snap  of  a  thousand 
watchman'a  rattles  whirled  by  as  many  giants,  the 
steady  crash  of  the  musketry,  were  music  to  him. 
He  wouldn't  mind  spending  an  hour  or  two  every 
day  in  such  a  battle  as  this.  His  tune  changed, 
however,  when  a  bullet,  which  by  mistake  had  got 
in  among  the  blank  cartridges,  came  whizzing  over 
the  boat. 

"  Hooray  !  "  exclaimed  Harry,  jumping  up  in  the 
boat.      "I  like  that  !" 

"I  don't,"  returned  Joe,  considerably  disturbed; 
"  it  puts  a  different  complexion  on  the  affair.  If 
there  are  any  more  like  that,  I  think  we'd  better 
lie  down  in  the  boats  till  they're  expended." 

"There  they  go  again  !"  cried  Harry,  as  one  — 
two  —  three  more  sang  over  their  heads.  "  Scho- 
py,  old  boy,  mind  your  eye ;  it's  the  sharp-shooters 
trying  to  pick  off  the  officers." 

It  did  begin  to  look  somewhat  serious.  Joe  had 
half  a  mind  to  pull  out  to  Mr.  Moncrief's  boat  and 


THE     NAVAL     BRIGADE.  1 83 

tell  him  that  the  marines  were  firing  bullets  by 
mistake.  Hearing  no  more,  however,  he  wisely 
decided  not  to  leave  the  line.  Steadily  the  boats 
moved  on,  and  steadily  the  powder  blazed  in  the 
very  faces  of  the  enemy.  The  enemy's  fire  was 
quick  and  regular,  but  it  was  no  match  for  that 
which  belched  from  the  guns  in  the  boats  ;  and 
soon  a  rift  in  the  smoke,  as  the  boats  were  quite 
close  in  shore,  showed  that  the  marines  were  fall- 
ing back  under  cover  of  any  natural  barrier  they 
could  find. 

"  Wouldn't  I  like  to  go  for  them  now  ? "  almost 
shouted  Harry.  He  stood  up  in  the  boat  waiting 
the  order  to  land  his  company,  impatient  as  the 
celebrated  war  horse  of  which  we  read  in  the  Book 
of  Job.  And  when  in  a  moment  the  order  came  for 
him  to  land,  he  jumped  for  the  beach  in  advance 
of  his  men.  In  his  impetuosity  he  leaped  a  little 
too  soon,  and  down  he  went  in  a  deep  place,  head 
over  ears  in  the  water.  Nothing  could  be  seen 
for  an  instant  but  his  cap.  He  presently  ap- 
peared at  the  surface,  however,  and  a  couple  of 
strokes  bringing  him  to  a  shallow  place,  he  rushed 
up  out  of  the  water  as  if  he  fancied  himself  lead- 
ing a  charge  with  his  uniform  riddled  with  bullets. 

"  Get  that  howitzer  ashore  immediately,"  called 
Mr.  Moncrief  from  the  beach  to  Swem,  who  had 
the  piece  referred  to  in  charge. 

"Ay,  ay?  sir,"  answered  Swem,  going  briskly  at 


1 84  THE    NAVAL    BRIGADE. 

it,  his  sword  hilt  waving  back  and  forth  like  an 
odd  kind  of  plume. 

But  the  howitzer  seemed  determined  not  to  be 
landed.  It  began  to  flounder  around  in  the  boat. 
Under  its  strange  antics,  the  Lady  Godiva  felt  as 
ticklish  as  a  tight-rope,  and  in  spite  of  everything, 
Swem  feared  she  would  turn  turtle.  But  in  a 
moment,  getting  one  wheel  of  the  carriage  over 
the  side,  the  gun  jumped  the  boat,  and  turning  a 
complete  somersault,  landed  on  the  rocky  bottom 
a  fathom  down.  Poor  Swem  looked  over  at  the 
howitzer  about  as  a  country  boy  would  regard  a 
horse  that  by  some  strange  mishap  had  rolled  into 
a  ditch  on  his  back. 

"What's  the  matter  in  that  boat?"  sung  out 
Mr.  Moncrief,  emerging  from  a  cloud  of  smoke  at 
the  water's  edge. 

"The  howitzer  has  gone  overboard,  sir,"  said 
Swem  in  a  trembling  voice. 

"  If  that  gun  isn't  in  position  in  five  minutes, 
I'll  know  the  reason  why,"  concluded  Mr.  Mon- 
crief in  no  very  mild  tones  ;  and  he  disappeared  as 
quickly  as  he  had  come  into  view. 

"Never  mind,  Schopy,"  said  Joe,  who  had  wit- 
nessed the  affair  while  waiting  for  an  order  to 
land  his  company  ;   "I'll  lend  you  a  hand." 

Putting  their  heads  together,  the  cadets  very 
shortly  had  the  howitzer  up  and  in  position  on  the 
right    flank,   where,    Swem   observed,   it   would  be 


THE    NAVAL    BRIGADE.  1 85 

about  as  useful  for  purposes  of  battle  as  a  wet 
swab. 

With  the  whole  brigade  now  on  shore,  the  tem- 
pest of  battle  rose  to  its  fullest  height.  From 
behind  every  variety  of  natural  breastwork  the 
marines  poured  forth  an  unceasing  fire.  Sharp- 
shooters, hidden  among  the  foliage  of  the  trees, 
were  no  less  active.  There  were  charges  and 
counter-charges,  advances  and  retreats.  Harry, 
by  a  daring  assault,  carried  two  of  the  enemy's 
strongest  positions.  Coverly,  in  retaliation,  cap- 
tured Schopy's  howitzer.  Joe  gallantly  recovered 
it,  taking  prisoners  Coverly  and  his  whole  detach- 
ment of  marines.  Schopy  got  excited  and  plunged 
into  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  The  stretcher-men 
wanted  somebody  to  carry  from  the  field,  and  he 
ordered  Enoch  Long,  who  was  pumping  the  blank 
cartridges  from  his  magazine  rifle  as  though  he 
imagined  himself  out  shooting  squirrels,  to  fall 
down  wounded. 

"I  won't,"  said  Long,  still  peppering  away. 

Swem  raised  his  awful  sword  over  Long's  head, 
who,  at  the  sight  of  it,  pitched  forward  on  the  grass 
as  though  he  had  been  a  kind  of  cartridge  fired 
from  the  heel  of  a  stage  horse. 

"  I'll  report  you  to  the  cap'n,"  he  sung  out,  as 
the  stretcher-men  tumbled  him  into  a  stretcher 
and  bore  him  from  the  field. 

An  officer  had  to  be  killed,  and  it  fell  to  Joe  tc 


1 86  THE    NAVAL     BRIGADE. 

foot  up  this  column  of  casualties.  He  was  carried 
from  the  field,  however,  more  tenderly  than  Long 
had  been. 

The  enemy's  shots  now  came  very  irregularly 
and  at  long  range.  It  was  very  evident  that  the 
marines  were  beating  a  hasty  retreat.  Advance 
guards,  rear  guards  and  flankers  were  thrown  out, 
and  a  careful  reconnoissance  revealed  the  fact  that 
the  brigade  had  taken  the  island.  But  it  is  one 
thing  to  take  an  island  and  another  to  hold  it. 
Now  everybody  worked  to  make  sure  the  victory. 
Fortifications  were  thrown  up  in  no  time,  rifle  pits 
dug,  batteries  planted,  sentinels  posted,  and  picket 
lines  established.  In  the  short  space  of  an 
hour,  they  could  have  repelled  a  cavalry  raid, 
and  sheltered  themselves  from  any  number  of 
skirmishers  and  sharp-shooters  who  might  be  hid- 
den behind  the  rocks  and  among  the  foliage  of 
the  trees. 

"  I  want  my  dinner,  now,  Mr.  Alexander  the 
Great,"  said  Coverly,  flinging  himself  on  the  grass, 
boots  high  in  the  air. 

The  battle  over,  Joe  was  superintending  the 
erection  of  the  Daybreak's  tents,  and  greatly  to 
their  amusement  was  keeping  up  the  illusion  that 
Coverly  was  still  his  prisoner. 

"Seems  to  me  you're  rather  familiar  for  a  pris- 
oner of  war,"  laughed  Joe.  "I'll  clap  you  in  the 
guard-house  if  you  don't  look  out." 


THE    NAVAL    BRIGADE.  1 87 

Joe  was  very  hungry  himself,  and  was  hurrying 
to  get  through  with  his  work  before  the  dinner- 
call  should  sound.  The  smoke  of  Hubbins'  kitch- 
ens was  now  more  glorious  to  him  than  the  smoke 
of  battle  had  been.  His  section  in  the  village  of 
tents,  therefore,  grew  very  quickly.  His  ingenuity 
was  considerably  taxed  to  get  sails  and  awnings  to 
fit  on  to  the  frame  works.  Wrinkles,  bulges  and 
ridges  would  mysteriously  appear  in  the  canvas, 
but  he  rubbed  and  hammered  and  stretched,  till 
at  last  he  attained  comparative  smoothness.  He 
was  not  able  to  get  the  sides  of  the  tents  very 
taut,  and  he  hoped  for  the  sake  of  his  reputation 
as  a  tent  builder,  there  would  be  no  rain  while  they 
were  in  camp.  The  work  was  completed  by  dig- 
ging a  trench  around  each  structure. 

"Where  are  the  bees?"  asked  Coverly,  survey- 
ing the  tents  with  a  comical  air. 

"What  do  you  mean  ? "  asked  Joe. 

Coverly  intimated  that  they  would  make  excel- 
lent bee-hives.  He  also  suggested  that  in  form 
they  resembled  one  another  about  as  nearly  as  the 
oddest  varieties  of  birds'  nests,  and  that  there  was 
about  breathing  space  enough  in  each  of  them  for 
a  fairy.  "  But  how  in  the  world  are  we  all  going 
to  sleep  in  them  ?  "  he  concluded. 

"  Oh  !  we  shall  have  to  arrange  ourselves  geomet- 
rically," laughed  Joe,  "like  heaps  of  cannon  balls." 

The  glory  of  war  does  not  appease  natural  appe- 


lS8  THE    NAVAL     BRIGADE. 

tite,  unless  the  thirst  for  glory  be  regarded  as 
such,  and  we  must  show  no  signs  of  surprise  as 
we  now  behold  Joe  and  Coverly  almost  scamper- 
ing across  the  field  of  Mars  after  their  dinner. 
The  clatter  of  pots,  pans  and  spoons,  louder,  it 
may  be,  than  the  din  of  battle  had  been,  suddenly 
arrested  their  conversation  with  the  most  inspir- 
ing strains  of  deck  or  camp,  and  set  them  beat- 
ing irregular  but  quick  time  over  the  turf.  In 
another  moment  they  flung  themselves  down  be- 
fore a  grassy  table  beside  their  messmates,  who, 
in  their  coming,  had  been  no  less  eager  than  them- 
selves, all  prepared  for  the  heaviest  charge  of  the 
day. 

"This  everlasting  serving  out  of  pork  and 
beans,"  exclaimed  Hubbins,  coming  up  from  the 
kitchen  with  a  very  red  face,  "  is  "  — 

"Important,  but  not  intellectual,"  said  Harry, 
filling  in  a  sentence  for  him. 

"This  commanding  a  company  is  intellectual, 
but  not  important,"  retorted  Hubbins. 

"  Oh  !  give  us  our  beans,  Hubbins,"  called  Cov- 
erly; "we're  starving." 

The  beans  and  coffee,  piping  hot,  were  brought 
up  by  the  steerage  servants,  and  Mr.  Hubbins  was 
highly  complimented  on  his  talents  as  a  restaura- 
teur, which,  however,  he  did  not  at  all  relish.  He 
said  that  he  had  no  use  for  commendation  that 
belonged    to    a  cook.      Joe    made  some  sober  re- 


THE     NAVAL     BRIGADE.  1 89 

mark  or  other,  when  Hubbins  told  him  that  he 
would  be  much  obliged  if  he  would  forego  preach- 
ing for  once.  It  was  evident  that  Hubbins  did 
not  take  the  slightest  interest  in  executing  the 
duties  of  his  office,  on  this  occasion,  at  least. 

"Hooray,  isn't  this  jolly!"  exclaimed  Harry, 
finishing  his  beans,  and  tumbling  back  on  the 
grass  like  a  ten-inch  shell. 

"I  wish  it  would  last  a  week,"  said  Joe,  rolling 
over  and  over  on  the  green-sward  like  a  small 
boy. 

"  There'll  be  fun  in  camp  to-night,"  observed 
Coverly  with  a  knowing  look;  "we've  got  it  all 
arranged." 

"More  graveyard  business,  I  suppose,"  said 
Hubbins  gruffly.  "I'd  vary  the  programme  occa- 
sionally, if  I  were  you." 

"  Coverly's  got  his  burglar's  tools  along,"  said 
Harry.      "  I  saw  him  packing  them  up." 

"And  his  dulcimer  —  zithern,  I  mean,"  said 
Schopy. 

"Yes;  and  he'll  be  playing  it  half  the  night. 
I'm  sick  of  its  infernal  buzz,"  put  in  Hubbins. 

"I'll  tell  you  what's  up,"  said  Coverly,  "if  you'll 
promise  not  to  blow  on  me." 

"  Go  on  ;  we  won't,"  said  every  one  but  Hubbins. 

"Ha,  ha,  ha!"  laughed  somebody  in  rear  of 
them,  who  had  come  up  unobserved. 

All    quickly  turned   on    their  elbows    and    saw 


I9O  THE     NAVAL     BRIGADE. 

Lieutenant  Bloomsbury  looking  down  upon  them 
with  a  most  ludicrous  expression  of  countenance. 

"Sorry  your  little  game's  blocked,"  he  said. 
"  I  was  a  midshipman  once,  myself.  But  have 
you  noticed  anything  peculiar  on  the  flag-ship  ?  " 

All  looked  and  saw  a  tiny  speck  of  bunting  flut- 
tering at  her  main. 

"The  dickens  !"  exclaimed  Coverly,  jumping  to 
his  feet  and  taking  a  look  at  it  through  his  glass  ; 
"that's  the  general  recall." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

JOE  AND  LIEUTENANT  BLOOMSBURY. 

ANOTHER  of  the  admiral's  little  surprises," 
chuckled  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  coming  hastily 
up  to  where  our  hero  was  busy  in  the  demolition 
of  the  tents.  "  But  you  won't  regret  it.  Dine 
with  me  this  evening  in  the  wardroom  ;  I'll  tell 
you  all  about  it,"  and  he  hurried  on. 

But  joe  did  regret  it.  This  peremptory  sum- 
mons back  to  the  ship  was  not  agreeable  to  all 
the  young  officers.  They  had  counted  on  several 
days  in  camp  and  had  planned  no  end  of  sport. 
Then  there  was  associated  with  it  a  feeling  some- 
what akin  to  ignominy.  It  was  as  if  a  battalion  of 
recruits  had  been  sent  home  after  a  single  day's 
campaigning.  What  could  it  all  mean  ?  For  a 
few  moments  Joe  was  conscious  of  a  keen  sense 
of  disappointment.  To  be  sure,  he  was  an  ardent 
lover  of  the  sea,  but  his  affection  for  the  green 
earth  was  stronger  just  now.  The  mystery  and 
grandeur  of  the  ocean  moved  him  to  wondrous 
feelings  ;  but  what  were  these  compared  with  the 
fresh,  delightful  emotions  awakened  by  the  touch 
191 


I92         JOE    AND    LIEUTENANT     BLOOMSBURY. 

of  mother  earth  ?  With  one  strong  effort,  how- 
ever, he  cast  these  fancies  from  his  mind,  and 
turned  to  his  work  with  the  earnestness  which 
ever  characterized  his  movements. 

In  time  of  peace  the  Navy  is  necessarily  a 
school  of  war.  Only  by  assuming  a  state  of  war- 
fare, and  enjoying  its  operations  and  manoeuvres, 
can  officers  and  men  be  kept  in  training  to  defend 
the  country  and  the  flag  in  case  of  insult  or  in- 
vasion. The  quick  eye,  the  steady  nerves,  the 
prompt,  clear  judgment  so  essential  in  battle,  must 
be  acquired  by  assuming,  so  far  as  is  practicable, 
the  conditions  and  exigencies  of  war. 

So,  in  view  of  the  absence  of  hostilities,  the 
admiral  had  recourse  to  a  war  of  home  manufac- 
ture. As  we  have  already  seen,  his  plans  sud- 
denly changed  with  reference  to  the  encampment, 
and  the  brigade  was  immediately  ordered  back  for 
the  grander  operations  in  contemplation.  The 
cadets  all  said  it  was  going  off  half-cocked ;  but 
when  Joe  understood  it  he  asked  them  if  in  his- 
tory they  knew  of  a  single  war  or  battle  which  in 
the  beginning  had  not  gone  off  in  just  that  way. 

That  evening  Joe  dined  with  Mr.  Bloomsbury. 
Important  events  were  pending.  Mr.  Bloomsbury 
wished  to  talk  with  him  concerning  them,  as  well  as 
to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  his  company  at  dinner. 
Lieutenant  Bloomsbury's  friendship  for  Joe  was 
very  ardent.      It  had  been   strengthening  day  by 


JOE  AXD  LIEUTENANT  BLOOMSBURY.    1 93 

day  ever  since  their  acquaintance  ^began.  Indeed 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  Joe  Bently  was  the  most  pop- 
ular young  officer  on  board  the  Daybreak.  He 
was  not  aware  of  this  fact,  but  his  respectful  bear- 
ing toward  his  superiors,  his  quiet,  unassuming 
manner,  his  consideration  for  the  men,  as  well  as 
his  ready  adaptation  to  any  kind  of  service,  not  to 
mention  his  well-known  courage,  excited  a  deep 
interest  in  him,  and  won  him  many  friends  both 
before  and  abaft  the  mast.  But  too  much  time 
must  not  be  spent  in  sounding  Joe's  praises  ;  to 
accord  him  his  honest  due  is  simply  justice. 

The  feelings  quite  likely  to  be  cherished  by  the 
resident  of  an  inconsequential  street  toward  a  fine 
house  on  a  fashionable  avenue,  which  at  some 
future  time  he  hoped  to  occupy,  may  represent 
Joe's  condition  of  mind  as  he  entered  the  ward- 
room. This  apartment,  shut  in  from  the  air  and 
the  sunshine,  abounding"  with  inconveniences,  a 
kind  of  gaudy,  stuffy  basement,  was,  notwithstand- 
ing, a  paradise  to  our  young  cadet.  To  be  sure, 
he  regarded  it  as  a  sort  of  cave,  but  when  the 
Aladdin's  lamp  of  promotion  should  be  bestowed 
upon  him,  what  untold  riches  of  honor  and  prefer- 
ment it  would  then  disclose  !  And  as  for  its  dis- 
comforts, he  would  care  no  more  for  them  then, 
than  a  man  would  care  of  what  material  the  strong 
bag  was  made  that  contains  his  gold.  Joe,  we 
must  remember,  is  only  a  cadet  and  just   now  the 


194         JOE    AND     LIEUTENANT     BLOOMSBURV. 

wardroom  is  his  brightest  dream  of  youth.  What 
matter  if  much  of  it  is  illusion  ?  We  doubt  not 
that  a  king  has  often  laughed  over  the  hallucina- 
tions that  filled  his  princely  visions  of  a  throne. 

It  was  rather  a  dampener  to  Joe's  brilliant  fancies 
that  at  the  instant  he  crossed  the  wardroom  thresh- 
old he  was  confronted  by  an  officer  who  could  not 
sympathize  with  them  in  the  least.  Immediately 
this  officer  had  shaken  hands  with  Joe,  he  began 
to  draw  a  dark  picture  of  wardroom  life.  It  was  a 
kind  of  martyrdom,  he  hinted,  to  be  shut  up  in  a 
place  that  in  some  aspects  resembled  the  street  of 
tombs  in  Pompeii,  and  in  others  the  catacombs  of 
Rome.  "To  me,"  he  continued,  "the  Navy  is  a 
servitude,  not  a  service." 

Joe  ventured  to  remark  that  he  hoped  it  was  not 
so  bad  as  all  that. 

"Yes,"  said  the  officer,  and  sweeping  the  ward- 
room with  one  glance  of  his  eye ;  "  you  see  what 
you're  coming  to  as  a  lieutenant" 

Joe  recalled  several  visitations  that  might  be 
harder  to  endure. 

"Professionally,"  he  went  on,  "you  are  in  a 
cartilaginous  state.  Take  my  advice,  and  go  into 
some  other  profession  before  you  ossify  in  your 
present  one." 

At  this  Joe  looked  bored.  "  I  hope  they  don't 
all  feel  this  way,"  he  mentally  said. 

He    wished    some  one  would  relieve  him  from 


JOE    AND     LIEUTENANT     BLOOMSBURY.  I 95 

this  dissertation  of  his  dismal  custodian  ;  and  this 
wish  was  soon  granted,  for  several  gentlemen  who 
had  been  smiling  over  his  initiation  came  to  the 
rescue.  Their  cheerful  conversation  at  once  dis- 
pelled the  unpleasant  impression  he  might  other- 
wise have  received.  The  wardroom  seemed  quite 
as  glorious  as  ever.  He  saw  that  the  general  dis- 
position was  to  get  the  best  things  out  of  ward- 
room life ;  and  he  was  much  pleased  with  the 
spirit  of  jolly  fraternity  which  characterized  the 
greater  number  of  the  mess. 

Everybody  seemed  to  unbend.  Mr.  Moncrief 
appeared,  as  respected  his  attitude  toward  our  hero, 
to  have  left  all  his  official  dignity  on  deck.  Indeed, 
he  had  quite  charmed  Joe  by  assuming  such  a 
thoroughly  unofficial  manner.  He  forgave  him 
the  endless  tasks  he  had  assigned  him.  As  for 
Mr.  Bloomsbury,  Joe  had  seldom  seen  him  when 
he  did  not  overflow  with  good  nature  ;  but  in  the 
wardroom  he  reminded  him  of  something  that 
would  enjoy  bursting  if  by  that  means  he  could 
distribute  any  greater  pleasure. 

One  thing,  however,  suggested  a  rather  disa- 
greeable subject  to  his  mind.  He  saw  that  most 
of  the  wardroom  officers  were  approaching  middle 
life ;  the  time  when,  in  his  opinion,  they  should  be 
nearing  the  top  of  their  profession  in  rank  and 
responsibility.  They  never  could  be  better  quali- 
fied for  its  higher  duties,   he   thought  ;    yet    here 


I96         JOE    AND     LIEUTENANT     BLOOMSBURY. 

they  were  not  half-way  up  the  ladder.  Joe  gave 
a  little  gasp  as  he  thought  of  the  many  long  years, 
should  things  remain  unchanged  in  the  Navy,  be- 
fore his  hand  could  ever  touch  the  round  in  the 
ladder  of  promotion  which  most  of  these  officers 
had  already  grasped.  But  he  hoped  that  mean- 
while Congress  would  shorten  the  ladder,  so  that 
before  his  hair  should  have  turned  white,  and 
his  ambition  waned,  the  top  round  might  be  with- 
in reaching  distance.  At  any  rate,  as  he  used  to 
express  it  to  himself,  he  would  like  for  Con- 
gress to  give  him  as  fair  a  show  as  was  given 
young  men  in  other  professions. 

But  at  this  point  his  reflections  were  cut  short 
by  the  announcement  of  dinner.  At  table  he  sat 
at  Mr.  Bloomsbury's  right,  his  old  habit  of  silence 
dominating.  It  being  the  first  time  he  had  dined 
in  a  wardroom,  he  regarded  it  as  something  of  an 
event.  Of  course  his  eyes  were  made  to  do  ser- 
vice. He  was  much  pleased  with  the  table,  not 
in  an  agricultural,  but  in  an  artistic  sense.  It 
was  tastefully  decorated  with  flowers,  and  was 
screened  off  at  either  end  by  pieces  of  bright 
bunting.  The  showy  uniforms  of  the  officers  on 
either  side  added  to  its  picturesqueness. 

In  a  moment,  however,  these  slight  externals 
were  banished  from  his  mind  by  the  mess-table  talk. 
It  had  already  gathered  itself  into  a  swift  stream 
of  comments,  observations,  questions,  and  so  forth, 


JOE    AND    LIEUTENANT    BLOOMSBURY.  I 97 

broken  into  occasional  rapids  by  an  outburst  of 
fun.  m 

"For  spontaneous,  effusive,  vociferous  talk," 
said  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  turning  to  him  with  a  smile, 
"give  me  a  wardroom  mess." 

After  awhile  the  conversation  took  a  serious 
turn,  and  but  for  a  flash  in  the  pan  it  would  have 
been  without  incident  for  some  little  time.  Mr. 
Bloomsbury  happened  to  make  the  remark  that 
the  idlers  on  board  ship  could  not  appreciate  the 
hardship  of  being  in  three  watches.  A  gentleman 
who  was  not  a  watch  officer  took  exception  to  the 
term  idlers. 

"I  don't  stand  any  watch,"  said  he,  "but  I'm  no 
idler." 

Mr.  Bloomsbury  laughed  heartily. 

"Why,"  said  he,  "don't  you  know  what  an  idler 
is  in  the  Navy  ?  Captain  Farradale  is  an  idler. 
So  are  Moncrief  and  the  admiral.  It  distinguishes 
those  on  board  ship  who  stand  watch  from  those 
who  do  not.  Ha,  ha,  ha  !  "  and  away  went  the 
last  vestige  of  offense  before  the  inundation  of 
Mr.  Bloomsbury's  good  nature. 

The  subject  of  ancestry  was  broached.  One 
officer  remarked  that  his  great-grandfathers  were 
colonels  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Another  said 
his  were  tories  at  that  period  ;  and  he  furthermore 
stated  that  he  had  a  very  old  uncle  living  in  New- 
port, who  now  claimed  to  be  a  tory  and  gloried  in 


I98         JOE    AND     LIEUTENANT     BLOOMSBURY. 

it.  In  a  moment  of  weakness  the  youngest  officer 
in  the  mess  made  some  personal  allusion  in  con- 
nection with  Beacon  Hill.  The  chief  engineer  at 
once  asked  him  what  year  his  ancestors  landed  at 
Castle  Garden. 

And  so  a  running  fire  of  questions,  comments, 
anecdotes  and  so  on  was  kept  up,  which  presently 
wound  up  with  a  rather  startling  pantomimic  dis- 
play. In  bringing  on  the  omlcttc  au  i-hum,  the 
colored  servant  lighted  the  spirits  which  covered 
it  in  the  rear  of  Joe's  chair.  As  Joe  turned  to 
help  himself  from  the  dish  —  which,  by  the  way, 
he  did  not  do,  being  fonder  of  his  native  State 
than  of  omlette  au  rkum  —  the  flames  flared  up 
around  the  ebony  face,  exhibiting  it  in  a  frame  of 
fire. 

"  Don't  be  frightened,  don't  be  frightened," 
laughed  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  "he  isn't  after  you. 
He  belongs  to  this  world." 

Joe  hoped  he  might  never  behold  a  more  vivid 
reminder  of  another. 

Dinner  over,  Joe  was  anxious  to  talk  about  the 
grand  operations  which  Mr.  Bloomsbury  had  inti- 
mated were  soon  coming  off.  He  also  feared  that 
the  war-game,  which  with  good  reason  the  cadets 
all  dreaded,  might  be  forthcoming.  For  a  num- 
ber of  days,  in  the  intervals  of  relief  from  duty, 
the  cadets  severally  had  been  invited  to  partici- 
pate in   this   war-game,   and   it    had    become  their 


JOE    AND    LIEUTENANT    BLOOMSBURY.  I 99 

detestation.  Swem  had  been  heard  to  use  some 
very  strong  language.  The  ground  for  this  aver- 
sion was  that  it  took  time  which  should  be  given 
to  their  studies,  and  always  resulted  in  their  de- 
feat. As  the  representative  of  a  ship,  Joe  had 
been  alternately  overhauled,  rammed,  riddled  with 
ten-inch  shell,  had  his  scuppers  spouting  blood, 
and  not  infrequently  had  been  blown  out  of  water 
by  a  torpedo.  It  had  always  been  his  fate  to  be 
either  sunk,  burned  or  captured.  The  strange 
thing  about  it  all  was,  that  his  opponent  generally 
regarded  him  as  only  something  to  be  rammed  or 
fired  into  ;  and  he  would  say  to  himself,  "  Wonder 
if  he  thinks  that  in  actual  battle  I  would  behave 
so  much  like  a  derelict  or  a  whale  ?  " 

But  to  his  great  relief,  before  there  was  time  to 
bring  on  the  war-game,  Mr.  Bloomsbury  invited 
him  to  his  state-room.  Mr.  Bloomsbury's  room 
was  a  place  of  rare  interest  to  Joe,  and  it 
was  always  a  pleasure  to  him  to  visit  it.  It  was 
highly  characteristic  of  its  occupant.  The  most 
difficult  thing  for  Joe  to  do  was  to  imagine  that  it 
was  habitable  quarters.  It  had  points  in  common 
with  a  workshop,  an  office,  a  museum,  a  bazaar,  or 
the  like  ;  it  contained  no  end  of  bric-a-brac ;  and 
of  ships,  guns,  projectiles,  torpedoes  and  torpedo 
boats,  it  had  models  enough,  Joe  thought,  to  start 
a  new  navy.  It  was  doubtful  whether  Marco 
Polo  ever  saw  anything  odder  than  some  of    its 


200         JOE    AND    LIEUTENANT    BLOOMSBURY. 

collections  gathered  from  everywhere  under  the 
sun.  It  was  also  littered  with  maps,  drawings, 
diagrams,  and  scientific  works,  scattered  around 
in  endless  confusion. 

"  Come  right  in,  come  right  in,"  said  Mr. 
Bloomsbury,  as  Joe  tripped  over  a  dumb-bell,  and 
caught  his  shoulder  knot  on  the  point  of  a  steel 
shaving,  a  recent  turning  from  the  jacket  of  a  new 
gun. 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  said  Joe,  bringing  up  violently 
against  the  bunk. 

"It's  a  little  crowded,"  remarked  Mr.  Blooms- 
bury.  "I  like  to  have  a  good  many  things  around 
me.      It  keeps  me  occupied." 

"  In  a  gale  of  wind,"  Joe  ventured  to  observe. 

"Yes,"  laughed  Mr.  Bloomsbury;  "things  are  a 
little  lively  then.  But  I  don't  mind  it.  I've  been 
buried  a  number  of  times  in  my  bunk,  but  they've 
dug  me  out  in  the  morning  all  right.  Ha,  ha,  ha ! 
Before  we  get  to  work,"  he  continued,  meanwhile 
twisting  his  arms  like  a  corkscrew  to  get  them  in 
place,  "I  want  you  to  look  at  these." 

He  handed  Joe  the  photographs  of  his  three 
children,  with  a  look  which  plainly  said,  "  Did  you 
ever  see  anything  like  them  in  all  your  born  days  ?  " 

"They're  beautiful  children,"  said  Joe  warmly; 
"what  are  their  names  ?  " 

"This  one,"  said  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  pointing  to 
a  sturdy  little  urchin  of  six,  "we  call  the  'Her- 


JOE    AND    LIEUTENANT    BLOOMSBUKY.         201 

cules ',  this  one  the  'Ajax',  and  this  one" — and 
here  he  gazed  very  tenderly  at  the  picture  of  a 
sweet  little  girl  —  "  the  '  Superb  '." 

"  Why,  they're  the  names  of  English  ships," 
observed  Joe,  surprised  at  the  strange  appellations 
for  children. 

"Oh!  of  course  they're  not  their  real  names," 
replied  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  smiling.  "They're  re- 
corded as  George,  Howard  and  Ethel.  But  it's 
hard  to  leave  such  children  as  those,"  and  here 
his  voice  became  very  husky,  and  he  dashed  a 
tear  from  his  eye.  "That's  what  makes  a  ship  a 
jail,  and  a  cruise  an  exile,"  he  added. 

Joe  had  never  seen  Mr.  Bloomsbury  display  so 
much  feeling  before,  and  he  was  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  to  do  or  say. 

"People  think,"  he  went  on,  "that  the  Navy  is 
a  yachting  fleet,  and  a  cruise  a  yachting  expedi- 
tion. The  separations  it  imposes,  to  say  nothing 
of  other  deprivations,  are  intolerable." 

Joe  looked  at  this  man,  to  whom  he  had  attrib- 
uted such  a  love  for  the  Navy,  in  astonishment. 

"It's  only  because  I'm  afraid  to  take  the  leap," 
he  added,  "that  I  stay  in  the  Navy.  I'm  fond 
enough  of  the  profession,  but  it's  no  compensa- 
tion in  any  way  for  the  life  we  have  to  lead.  But 
it  won't  do,  it  won't  do;  where's  the  neutralizer  ? " 

The  old  smile  returned  as  he  reached  up  and 
took  from  its  hanging  place  on  the  bulk-head  an 


202         JOE    AND    LIEUTENANT    BLOOMSBURY. 

oil  painting.  Joe  had  already  been  regarding  it 
with  no  little  curiosity  and  amusement.  "  What 
do  you  think  of  that  ?  "  resumed  his  friend.  "An 
honest  opinion,  mind." 

"Oh!  I'm  no  connoisseur,"  said  our  hero,  grin- 
ning in  spite  of  himself,  and  wondering  if  Mr. 
Bloomsbury  were  a  dabbler  in  colors. 

He  saw  that  the  painting  essayed  to  set  forth 
the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  He  thought 
it  strange  that  the  donkey  in  the  picture  should  be 
larger  than  the  hill  it  pretended  to  stand  under; 
that  the  Good  Samaritan  shouldn't  have  any  knees, 
and  that  by  reaching  an  arms-length  he  could 
have  hung  his  cloak  or  mantle  on  a  pinnacle  of  the 
Synagogue,  soaring  with  heightened  color  from  the 
midst  of  Jericho  in  the  distance.  There  were 
other  shortcomings,  or  foreshortenings,  which,  to- 
gether with  the  inadvertencies  mentioned,  made  it 
difficult  for  Joe  to  give  an  honest  opinion,  thrust 
as  he  was  so  suddenly  into  art  criticism. 

"It's  a  very  odd  name,"  he  managed  to  get  off, 
while  he  spelt  out  The  Neutralizer,  written,  evi- 
dently by  Mr.  Bloomsbury's  own  hand,  in  large 
letters  at  the  bottom. 

"Oh!  I  didn't  paint  it,"  he  said,  amused  at 
Joe's  reticence.  "  It's  a  magnificent  counteractive. 
When  I  get  a  little  blue  it  always  starts  a  fresh 
breeze  in  my  mind." 

"  I  should  think  it  would  start  a  howling  erale," 


JOE  AND  LIEUTENANT  BLOOMSBURY.    203 

remarked  Joe,  daring  to  express  an  opinion  now 
that  he  had  learned  that  Mr.  Bloomsbury  was  not 
its  author. 

"We  have  to  practice  all  sorts  of  little  deceits 
and  devices  upon  ourselves  to  keep  cheered  up  in 
this  life  we  are  living,"  continued  Mr.  Bloomsbury, 
while  he  proceeded  to  improvise  a  desk  on  the  side 
of  his  bunk.  "  But  now  we'll  attend  to  business," 
he  concluded,  taking  a  handful  of  papers  from  his 
bureau  and  placing  them  before  him. 

When  the  admiral  had  sent  for  him,  it  was  for 
the  purpose  of  committing  to  him  certain  details 
in  the  preparations  for  the  exercises  in  Gardiner's 
Bay,  and  he  was  spending  every  moment  he  could 
get  in  working  out  his  plans. 

"You  see,"  said  he,  coming  to  the  point  at 
once,  "there's  going  to  be  a  big  time.  I  gave  you 
a  hint  of  it  on  the  island.  You  and  I  will  work 
together  in  a  good  deal  of  it.  So  I  thought  I'd 
let  you  into  the  secret  this  evening." 

To  Joe's  delight  he  then  went  over  the  whole 
ground  of  the  impending  operations  wTith  him.  So 
absorbed  did  they  become  in  the  work  that  mid- 
night found  them  still  at^t.  "You  may  go  now," 
said  Mr.  Bloomsbury  as  he  counted  the  eight  bells 
then  striking,  indicating  the  lateness  of  the  hour. 
"But,"  he  added,  as  Joe  left  the  room,  "put  your 
best  work  on  torpedoes,  for  a  grand  battle  with 
torpedoes  will  undoubtedly  wind  up  the  affair." 


CHAPTER  XI V. 

FIXING     A     TORPEDO. 

TO  follow  Joe  in  every  detail  of  his  duties  for 
•  the  next  few  days  would  be  impossible.  A 
couple  of  days  were  spent  in  getting  ready,  then 
the  battle  exercises  began  in  earnest.  A  certain 
portion  of  Gardiner's  Bay  was  first  set  off  as  a 
harbor.  For  its  protection  a  series  of  booms  was 
constructed,  consisting  of  spars,  yards  and  steel 
hawsers  firmly  lashed  together.  Mr.  Bloomsbury 
and  Joe  had  charge  of  this  work.  In  addition  to 
this,  torpedoes  were  planted,  mines  laid,  and  bat- 
teries erected  on  the  adjacent  shores.  This  prep- 
aration, it  was  thought,  together  with  a  flotilla 
formed  of  a  dozen  or  more  torpedo  boats,  would 
render  the  harbor  impregnable. 

The  Daybreak  and  one  other  ship,  for  the  time 
being,  were  to  occupy  ami  hold  the  harbor.  The 
rest  of  the  squadron,  regarded  as  a  powerful  ene- 
my, was  to  cruise  off  the  entrances  to  the  bay, 
establishing  a  complete  blockade.  Occasionally  a 
division  of  ships  from  the  blockading  fleet  was  to 
dash  into  the  bay,  attempt  to  destroy  the  Daybreak 
204 


FIXING    A    TORPEDO.  205 

and  her  consort,  and  thus  get  possession  of  the 
harbor.  This  was  to  be  done  by  strategy,  the 
supreme  method  of  modern  warfare,  rather  than 
by  open  battle. 

At  last  the  arrangements  were  all  completed, 
and  the  operations  began.  For  two  days  and 
nights  there  was  scarcely  any  cessation  of  hostil. 
ities.  There  was  a  grand  roar  of  artillery  and 
machine  guns  from  morning  until  night.  The  in- 
side of  the  ships  were  as  black  from  powder  as 
the  faces  of  the  artillerists.  Attempt  after  attempt 
was  made  to  capture  the  harbor,  and  on  the  part 
of  the  Daybreak  and  her  consort  to  break  the 
blockade  and  run  into  the  open  sound.  Nothing 
but  failure,  however,  seemed  to  attend  each  move- 
ment on  either  side.  In  every  way  possible  the 
torpedo  boats  tried  to  get  near  enough  to  the 
blockading  squadron  to  fix  torpedoes,  but  in  each 
instance  they  were  detected,  and  driven  igno- 
miniously  back.  Captain  Farradale  was  mortified, 
and  Joe  thought  Mr.  Moncrief  and  Mr.  Blooms- 
bury  were  almost  in  a  state  of  rage.  The  Day- 
break had  done  well  with  everything  but  her 
torpedo  boats ;  and  the  boat  of  which  Joe  had 
charge  had  done  worst  of  all.  It  had  partially 
redeemed  itself,  however,  by  stealing  up  to  a  point 
quite  near  the  flagship  before  it  was  discovered. 
Captain  Farradale  had  been  anxious  to  do  good 
work    with    torpedoes.      Torpedo   warfare   was    a 


206  FIXING    A    TORPEDO. 

branch  of  the  Service  in  which  he  was  greatly 
interested,  and  in  which  he  believed  great  possi- 
bilities lay.  He  saw  that  there  must  be  a  change 
of  base,  and  he  quickly  decided  on  a  daring  enter- 
prise. "To-night,"  he  said  to  Mr.  Moncrief, 
"young  Bently's  boat  must  make  a  single  and 
final  attempt  to  fire  a  torpedo  under  the  stern  of 
the  flag-ship.  Do  you  think  it  safe  to  send 
Bently  ? " 

"Yes;  I  think  so,  sir.  He's  lacking  only  in 
experience.      He  has  no  end  of  nerve  and  daring." 

"  I  think  we've  had  a  pretty  good  demonstration 
of  that,"  the  captain  remarked  as  he  touched  the 
bell  for  the  orderly.  "  Tell  Mr.  Bently  I  wish  to 
see  him  in  the  cabin,"  he  said,  when  that  func- 
tionary appeared. 

Wondering  what  could  be  in  the  wind,  Joe  pre- 
sented himself  in  the  cabin. 

"I  have  important  and  dangerous  service  for 
you  to-night,  if  you  wish  to  undertake  it,"  said 
Captain  Farradale,  coming  to  the  point  at  once. 
"  If  you  do  not  care  to  run  the  risk,  I  will  send 
Mr.  Arlington." 

Joe  felt  like  biting  his  lip  to  think  that  the  cap- 
tain should  have  put  it  in  that  way,  but  he  replied 
promptly  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  taking  risks. 

"  Our  torpedo  boats  have  not  done  very  well," 
the  captain  continued,  "and  I  do  not  wish  to  re- 
port them  a  dead  failure.      If  you  can  fix  a  torpedo 


FIXING    A    TORPEDO.  207 

under  the  stern  of  the  flag-ship,  you'll  save  the 
whole  thing." 

"  I  can  make  the  trial,  sir,"  replied  our  hero, 
with  a  poor  attempt  at  concealing  his  pleasure 
over  the  honor  the  captain  had  conferred  upon 
him. 

"  You'd  better  take  Mr.  Swem  along  with  you," 
said  the  captain  as,  after  further  instructions,  Joe 
turned  to  leave  the  cabin. 

"I  beg  pardon,  sir,"  said  Joe  with  hesitation, 
"would  you  mind  substituting  Mr.  Edgerton  for 
Mr.  Swem  ?  " 

"Certainly  not,  if  Mr.  Moncrief  thinks  he  can 
be  spared." 

Mr.  Moncrief  thought  he  could  be  spared,  and 
our  hero  quickly  left  the  cabin  to  complete  his 
preparations  for  the  expedition.  Informing  Harry 
of  all  that  had  taken  place,  they  at  once  set 
to  work  with  enthusiasm  to  get  everything  in 
readiness  by  dark. 

The  boat  they  were  to  use  was  very  old,  and 
gave  Captain  Farradale  no  little  concern.  She 
was  a  steam  cutter,  not  very  sea-worthy,  as  many 
thought,  with  patched  boilers  and  machinery 'liable 
to  break  down  under  any  unusual  strain.  She  was 
also  a  clumsy  craft,  of  small  freeboard,  and  with- 
out air  chambers.  For  rolling  she  had  the  capac- 
ity of  a  mule,  only  she  had  never  exercised  it  to 
its  full  extent  and  gone  entirely  over.      She  had  to 


208  FIXING    A    TORPEDO. 

be  handled  with  extreme  caution  in  a  sea-way  ; 
otherwise  she  would  have  undoubtedly  gone  to  the 
bottom  more  quickly  than  ever  the  Lady  Godiva 
had  accomplished  that  feat.  As  Captain  Farradale 
hinted,  there  were  many  risks  connected  with  the 
expedition.  In  addition  to  the  comparative  unsea- 
worthiness of  the  boat  it  may  be  noted  that  the 
danger  was  also  greatly  enhanced  by  the  springing 
up  of  a  fresh  breeze  ■ —  indeed,  a  moderate  gale, 
and  the  prospect  of  a  very  dark  night. 

It  took  some  little  time  to  prepare  the  boat.  By 
the  advice  of  Harry,  a  turtle-back  deck  was  rigged 
over  the  bow-sheets.  This  was  done  by  covering 
a  light  frame-work  with  canvas,  the  bottom  of 
which  was  solidly  nailed  all  around  to  the  boat. 
Several  fathoms  more  chain  were  added  to  the 
anchor,  a  large  quantity  of  kindling  wood  was 
stowed  snugly  in  the  locker,  to  be  used  in  relight- 
ing fires  in  case  the  sea  should  put  them  out,  and 
any  number  of  tools  were  placed  on  board  to 
repair  any  accident  that  might  happen  to  the 
machinery.  A  supply  of  water  and  provisions, 
life-preservers,  buckets  for  bailing  out,  and  an 
apparatus  for  the  more  expeditious  handling  of 
torpedoes  —  an  invention  of  Joe's  own  brain  —  com- 
pleted the  outfit. 

In  addition  to  this  thorough  preparation  there 
was  a  picked  crew.  The  moment  the  nature  of 
the  expedition  was  suspected,  Joe  was  overwhelmed 


FIXING    A    TORPEDO.  200, 

with  applications  from  men  and  boys  anxious  to 
go  with  him.  Enoch  Long  was  foremost  among 
the  applicants,  and  dwelt  in  his  peculiar  style  on 
his  fitness  for  the  service ;  but  Joe  felt  that  he 
could  be  spared  without  subsequent  regrets.  It 
did,  however,  go  against  the  grain  to  be  obliged  to 
turn  away  from  so  many  others  ;  lusty  young  fel- 
lows as  they  were,  who  would  have  rejoiced  to  go 
with  him  into  any  kind  of  clanger.  He  heartily 
wished  that  he  might  accommodate  them  with 
something  in  the  way  of  real  warfare,  of  propor- 
tions worthy  of  their  bravery. 

We  may  be  sure  that  under  these  circumstances 
his  crew  was  very  carefully  selected,  and  that  first 
among  them  were  Conners  and  Dicky  Dawson. 
He  selected  Dawson  as  coxswain,  and  Conners  to 
handle  the  torpedo.  When  the  boat's  crew  was 
mustered,  it  was  found  to  number,  exclusive  of 
Joe  and  Harry,  eight  people  —  "force  enough," 
Joe  remarked,  "  if  well  handled  on  torpedo  expe- 
ditions, to  seriously  damage,  if  not  totally  destroy, 
an  enemy." 

Everything  in  readiness,  the  cadets  waited  in 
utmost  impatience  the  arrival  of  ten  o'clock,  the 
hour  fixed  by  Captain  Farradale  for  their  depart- 
ure. They  feared  the  captain  might  change  his 
mind  at  the  last  minute.  Every  ring  of  the  cabin 
bell  now  fairly  set  them  in  a  tremor.  The  weather 
was  very  threatening.      The  sky  was  full  of  nimbus 


2IO  FIXING    A    TORPEDO. 

clouds  ;  the  wind  came  in  puffs  and  squads,  and 
was  steadily  increasing  in  force.  The  captain  had 
finally  come  out  upon  the  quarter  deck,  and  was 
evidently  in  an  anxious,  doubtful  frame  of  mind. 
He  called  to  his  orderly,  asking  how  the  barometer 
stood.  Fortunately  for  the  cadets,  it  was  reported 
steady.  But  at  last,  just  as  they  had  begun  to 
think  the  project  would  be  abandoned,  they  were 
rejoiced  to  hear  the  captain  say  to  the  officer  of 
the  deck,  "  Let  the  boat  shove  off  promptly,  sir, 
at  four  bells." 

The  sharp  closing  of  the  cabin  door  a  moment 
later  indicated  that  the  captain  had  returned  to 
his  quarters,  and  our  young  belligerents  started 
quickly  for  the  deck.  They  had  been  sagacious 
enough  to  keep  out  of  the  captain's  way  during 
the  evening,  realizing  that  if  they  remained  out  of 
sight  the  captain  would  not  be  so  much  impressed 
by  their  youth  and  inexperience. 

Ten  o'clock  came,  and  the  order  was  given  to 
shove  off.  In  accordance  with  naval  usage,  Joe 
was  now  commanding  officer  of  the  boat.  He 
gave  Dawson  the  course  he  was  to  steer  by  the 
compass,  having  previously  ascertained  the  bear- 
ing of  the  flag-ship.  The  boat,  of  course,  carried 
no  running  lights,  and  as  soon  as  they  started 
the  additional  precaution  was  taken  of  pulling  a 
canvas  cover  over  the  two  or  three  lanterns  on 
board.      Joe  also  gave  orders  that  in  firing  up,  the 


FIXING    A    TORPEDO.  211 

furnace  door  must  be  kept  open  as  short  a  time  as 
possible.  With  a  few  other  preliminary  directions 
and  precautions,  the  boat  moved  slowly  out  into 
the  darkness,  which  was  now  of  inky  blackness. 

"This  is  glorious,"  cried  Harry,  as  a  shower  of 
spray  flew  over  the  canvas  covering  of  the  launch. 
"Only  it's  a  sham,"  he  added,  his  voice  relapsing 
almost  into  a  tone  of  melancholy. 

"  It  won't  be  a  sham  getting  there,"  ejaculated 
Joe,  as  a  big  sea  struck  the  launch  on  the  port 
quarter,  flinging  both  cadets  against  the  bulk-head, 
and  flooding  the  stern-sheets  with  a  foot  of  water. 

"You'll  have  to  jump  her  along,  to  keep  ahead 
of  this  sea,"  said  Harry,  an  anxious  look  all  at 
once  overspreading  his  countenance. 

"Open  her  out,"  said  Joe  to  the  machinist,  who 
stood  with  his  hand  on  the  throttle.  "  If  we  don't 
run  any  faster  than  this,  we'll  have  to  heave  to," 
he  added  to  Harry  in  a  tone  of  half-dismay,  as 
the  boat's  stern  was  nearly  buried  by  another  sea, 
which  came  tumbling  down  upon  it  like  a  miniature 
cataract. 

The  cutter  rushed  ahead  under  four  bells,  and 
now  began  a  race  with  the  waves.  She  was  right 
before  the  sea.  Through  an  aperture  in  the  can- 
vas Joe  could  see  the  gleaming  phosphorescent 
tops  of  the  waves  as  they  hurried  on  after,  to  his 
mind,  full  of  evil  intent  toward  the  little  boat. 
At  every  pitch  of  the  launch,  her  propeller,  thrown 


212  FIXING    A    TORPEDO. 

completely  out  of  water,  raced  like  a  mill-wheel. 
The  water  surged  in  around  the  canvas  inces- 
santly, and  rose,  in  spite  of  the  rapid  bailing, 
almost  to  the  furnace  grating  ;  altogether  it  was 
quite  alarming.  For  a  time  Joe  and  Harry  feared 
the  fires  would  be  put  out,  and  this  probability 
filled  them  with  misgiving.  It  would  bring  the 
expedition  to  an  end  and  perhaps  swamp  the  boat. 
But  after  an  hour  or  more  of  deep  suspense,  the 
boat  all  at  once  felt  her  way  into  smooth  water, 
and  their  spirits  revived. 

They  had  come  suddenly,  and  indeed  unexpect- 
edly, under  the  shelter  of  the  opposite  shore.  It 
was  at  a  point  where  the  land  had  been  eaten  away 
by  the  action  of  the  sea,  thus  forming  the  basin 
of  a  minute,  semicircular  bay.  And  just  ahead 
of  them,  her  hull  completely  hidden  by  a  salient 
angle  of  the  shore,  but  her  masts  and  rigging 
visible,  lay  the  flag-ship  safely  anchored  for  the 
night. 

But  now  appeared  the  greatest  obstacle  yet 
encountered.  Joe  had  been  anticipating  it  all 
along.  Until  this  moment,  for  some  inexplicable 
reason,  the  electric  search-lights  of  the  flag-ship 
had  not  been  turned  on.  All  the  way  from  the 
Daybreak  Joe  and  Harry  had  congratulated  them- 
selves upon  this  ;  but  now  they  saw  that  they,  or 
visitors  like  themselves,  were  expected.  At  the 
first  flash  of  the  light  Joe's  spirits  fell ;   indeed,  he 


FIXING    A    TORPEDO.  213 

was  quite  overcome  by  his  disappointment.  But 
he  quickly  rose  to  the  emergency  ;  the  thought 
flashed  upon  him  that  if  he  could  make  his  way  to 
the  vessel  right  in  the  face  of  this  great  difficulty 
without  being  seen,  the  achievement  would  have  a 
much  higher  value  and  honor  —  would,  in  fact,  have 
some  little  glory  in  it. 

Ordering  the  engines  to  be  stopped,  he  held  a 
brief  consultation  with  Harry.  He  then  went  for- 
ward to  give  instructions  to  Dawson  and  Conners. 
The  plan  of  operations  was  soon  fully  decided 
upon,  and  he  directed  the  boat-hands  to  roll  up  the 
forward  curtains,  and  to  get  out  the  oars.  Every 
word  was  now  spoken  in  a  whisper,  and  each  stroke 
of  the  oars  when  they  were  let  fall  was  as  noiseless 
as  though  they  had  been  muffled.  As  yet  they  were 
screened  by  the  rim  of  the  crescent-shaped  bay 
into  which  they  had  entered.  In  a  few  minutes, 
however,  they  reached  the  tip  end  of  its  farther 
boundary,  and  at  a  whispered  order  the  rowers 
ceased  pulling.  By  craning  their  necks  the  cadets 
could  now  see  around  the  point  of  land  they  had 
reached,  beyond  which  the  great  ship  lay,  in  her 
position,  relative  to  them,  end  on.  Her  starboard 
search-light  that  instant  turned  in  their  direction, 
and  in  its  glare  they  got  the  ship's  exact  bearing 
from  their  place  of  observation.  They  judged 
that  her  distance  from  their  hiding  place  was 
about  two  hundred  yards. 


214  FIXING    A    TORPEDO. 

"  I  hope  they'll  shut  off  those  search-lights," 
said  Harry.  "  This  expedition's  gone  up  if  they 
don't." 

"I  hope  they  won't  shut  them  off,"  said  Joe, 
much  to  Harry's  surprise. 

"  Why,  do  you  want  this  to  be  a  fizzle,  like  all 
the  torpedo  attacks  ? "  returned  Harry,  somewhat 
nettled. 

"  Suppose  we  were  going  to  blow  up  the  Dread- 
naught  or  the  Alexandra,  would  we  wait  for  them 
to  turn  off  their  search-lights  for  our  accommoda- 
tion ?  Torpedo  warfare  has  got  to  be  in  face  of 
just  such  obstacles  as  this,"  coolly  argued  Joe. 

"Well,"  continued  Harry  in  a  skeptical  tone, 
"if  this  fails,  I  never  want  to  see  Captain  Farra- 
dale  again." 

"It  isn't  going  to  fail,"  returned  our  hero,  his 
eye  kindling  with  renewed  enthusiasm. 

The  impulsive  and  somewhat  discouraged  Harry 
was  reassured  by  Joe's  cool  words  and  manner, 
and  in  a  few  moments  was  excitedly  urging  him 
to  rush  in  and  finish  up  the  affair  at  once.  But 
the  utmost  caution  and  coolness  were  now  neces- 
sary, and  our  hero  was  not  to  be  hurried. 

The  light  was  flashed  over  them  the  second 
time,  and  was  again  turning  away,  when  Joe  gave 
orders  for  the  boat  to  round  the  point.  Slowly 
she  crept  around,  following  the  shore  as  close  as 
she   could   get.      The   cadets   rightly  conjectured 


FIXING    A    TORPEDO.  21  5 

that  among  the  outlying  rocks  and  reefs  they 
would  more  readily  escape  observation.  Yet  they 
realized  that  they  were  in  momentary  danger  of 
running  the  boat  aground,  or  of  staving  a  hole  in 
her  bows  by  too  sharp  contact  with  some  bayonet- 
ted  projection  of  the  shore.  But  the  boat  worked 
on  without  mishap,  and  presently  the  light  flashed 
over  them  again.  This  time  they  made  the  pleas- 
ing discovery  that  a  low  reef  lay  between  them 
and  the  ship.  Only  the  smokestack  of  the  launch 
was  now  visible  above  this  reef,  but  it  was  ex- 
tremely doubtful  whether  the  sharpest  lookout 
could  distinguish  it.  From  this  new  vantage 
ground  Joe  renewed  his  observations,  and  decided 
upon  his  method  of  attack. 

He  discovered  that  when  the  search-lights  were 
turned  directly  aft,  a  cone  of  darkness  lay  between 
them,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  in  a  line  with 
the  stern  of  the  ship.  If  they  could  only  reach 
this  point  before  the  lights  again  converged,  they 
would  be  well  shadowed,  and  the  flag-ship's  fate, 
theoretically  speaking,  at  least,  would  be  sealed. 
This  conclusion  he  communicated  to  Harry,  and 
waiting  a  moment  for  the  search-lights  to  turn  for- 
ward, the  daring  work  began. 

With  strong,  but  quiet  strokes  the  boat  was 
driven  into  the  open  water  and  pointed  for  the 
ship.  At  the  utmost  risk  of  detection,  the  men 
threw  their  weight  upon  the  oars, 


2l6  FIXING    A    TORPEDO. 

Steadily  the  lights  were  turning,  and  slowly  but 
evenly  the  boat  was  moving  up.  The  broad  glare, 
bright  as  noonday,  had  almost  reached  them  again. 
They  were  fifty  yards  away.  The  lights  had  now 
converged,  and  the  boat  was  barely  at  the  point  of 
juncture.  "  Oars,"  whispers  our  hero,  and  the  boat 
lay  as  still  upon  the  water  as  a  mass  of  sea-weed. 

Joe  could  hear  the  thumping  of  his  heart  against 
his  side.  Harry  was  all  a-tremble.  Only  an  instant, 
which  seemed  minutes  to  them,  were  they  in  the 
blaze  of  the  lights.  Then  darkness  again  closed 
around  them,  and  they  were  still  undiscovered. 

At  this  point  in  the  expedition,  if  they  could 
only  have  cheered,  what  a  shout  would  have  gone 
up  ;  for  had  they  not  already  won  a  victory  ?  The 
rule  settled  upon  by  the  belligerents  had  been  that 
torpedo  boats  must  get  within  sixty  yards  of  the 
enemy  without  drawing  his  fire  ;  otherwise  they 
would  be  ruled  out  of  action.  Within  this  limit 
the  Daybreak's  boat  now  lay,  and  a  complete  vic- 
tory appeared  so  certain  that  the  cadets  almost 
laughed  outright.  Once  more  the  oars  fell  noise- 
lessly, and  the  boat  pushed  forward. 

But  what  is  this  ?  The  boat  came  to  a  sudden 
stand-still,  knocking  Joe  and  Harry  almost  from 
their  feet.  They  hurried  forward,  and  taking  down 
the  turtle-back  deck,  threw  themselves  prone  upon 
the  bows  to  ascertain  the  cause.  "A  torpedo  net- 
ting," whispered  Joe,  "and  it's  got  to  be  cut." 


FIXING    A    TORPEDO.  2  I  7 

Conners  loaned  him  his  knife,  and  he  sawed 
away  violently  upon  the  obstruction,  but  to  no 
purpose.  The  netting  was  made  of  steel  wire,  and 
was  found  to  be  an  effectual  barrier. 

Our  hero's  mind  was  again  quickly  made  up  as 
to  what  would  have  to  be  done.  Captain  Farradale 
had  instructed  him  to  fix  a  torpedo  under  the  stern 
of  the  flag-ship,  and  the  accomplishment  of  this 
work  was  now  too  near  for  it  to  be  abandoned. 
Joe  looked  the  very  impersonation  of  nerve  and 
resolution.  Hastily  throwing  off  a  part  of  his 
clothing,  he  directed  Conners  to  get  the  torpedo 
out  over  the  port  bow. 

"  You're  surely  not  going  to  swim  for  it,"  whis- 
pered Harry. 

"There's  no  other  way,"  replied  Joe.  "You 
look  after  the  boat,  keep  everything  quiet,  and 
we'll  get  out  of  here  in  no  time,"  he  added 
hopefully. 

Thus  saying,  Joe  carefully  lowered  himself  into 
the  water.  The  torpedo  which  had  been  let  down 
by  Conners  without  a  sound,  was  all  ready  for  him. 
Laying  hold  of  it,  and  gently  pushing  it  before 
him,  he  struck  out  for  the  ship.  It  was  a  moment 
of  terrible  suspense.  Just  above  him,  on  the  star- 
board and  port  quarters,  were  the  lookouts,  seem- 
ing to  be  unmindful  of  everything  but  walking 
back  and  forth  on  their  little  beats.  Pacing  the 
starboard  side  of  the  quarter  deck  was  the  officer 


2l8  FIXING    A    TORPEDO. 

of  the  deck,  all  unsuspecting.  Indeed,  excepting 
the  electric  lights,  the  appearance  of  things  was 
such  as  to  lead  Joe  to  the  conclusion  that  on  this 
particular  night  he  could  perpetrate  almost  any 
disaster  upon  the  flag-ship. 

With  a  firm  grip  upon  the  torpedo  he  slowly 
worked  it  along.  Suddenly  it  bumped  against  the 
rudder-post,  sounding  with  a  heavy  thud.  Letting 
go  of  it  a  moment,  he  listened.  All  continued 
silent  on  the  great  deck  above  him.  He  felt  qui- 
etly around  after  something  to  which  the  torpedo 
might  be  attached.  "It's  a  sure  thing  now,"  said 
he  to  himself,  almost  laughing  aloud  in  his  delight. 

But  a  moment  later  a  whisper  reached  him  from 
Harry.  "Quick,  quick!"  he  called;  "we're  dis- 
covered !  " 

Did  the  warning  come  too  late  ?  Harry  saw  the 
flash  of  a  Hotchkiss  rifled  cannon  right  in  our 
hero's  face  and  eyes,  and  so  stunned  was  he  by 
the  accompanying  explosion,  that  he  lost  sight  of 
Joe  altogether. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


KATIE     AND     MAUD. 


MR.  ASTON  was  very  fond  of  salt  water,  and 
he  regarded  it  a  happy  coincidence  that 
Mrs.  Aston  and  Katie's  affection  for  the  same 
element  was  equally  strong.  It  was  owing  to  this 
fact,  no  doubt,  that  the  Celeste,  to  which  several 
allusions  have  already  been  made,  had  been  built. 
During  her  first  season,  at  least,  this  craft  was  to 
be  the  Astons'  summer  home  ;  in  a  sense,  their 
ocean  cottage. 

The  Celeste  was  lying  at  anchor  in  Bar  Harbor, 
her  rendezvous  for  the  season.  She  had  been  off 
on  a  trial  trip  —  Mr.  Aston  and  Katie  called  it  her 
honeymoon  —  in  the  Gulf  Stream.  She  had  wres- 
tled with  huge  seas,  and  given  Mr.  Aston  and 
Katie  the  worst  shaking  up  they  had  ever  known, 
and  earned  the  reputation  for  herself  of  being  a 
superb  sea-boat.  Though  she  had  plunged  into  as 
heavy  weather  as  she  could  ever  be  likely  to 
encounter,  she  did  not  strain  a  timber,  or  ship  a 
single  sea. 

Mr.  Aston's  four-oared  gig  had  just  come  around 

2TQ 


220  KATIE    AND    MAUD. 

to  the  gangway,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  Katie. 
She  was  in  a  very  impatient  mood.  She  feared 
she  would  be  late  at  the  steamboat  landing.  Her 
old  friend  and  schoolmate,  Miss  Maud  Edgerton, 
of  Boston,  is  expected  by  the  old  steamer  Lewiston. 
Katie  urged  the  boat's  crew  to  their  best  work, 
and  so  preceded  the  steamer's  arrival  by  several 
minutes. 

And  while  Katie  awaits  Miss  Maud's  arrival,  we 
may  as  well  take  a  look  at  the  new  yacht. 

Any  owner  might  feel  justly  proud  of  the 
Celeste.  Refined  and  graceful  in  model,  built  of 
the  choicest  material,  representing  the  best  work 
of  a  leading  naval  architect,  she  elicits  on  all 
sides  the  warmest  admiration.  The  yacht-loving 
public  talk  about  her  as  one  of  the  finest  acces- 
sions of  her  class  ever  added  to  the  yachting  fleet 
of  this  country.  She  is  a  sailing  yacht  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  tons  burden,  schooner-rig,  built 
for  comfort  and  safety  rather  than  speed ;  al- 
though to  judge  from  her  sharp  bows  and  clear 
run  aft,  she  is  by  no  means  deficient  in  this  latter 
quality.  She  is  the  pride  of  her  sailing  master, 
and  the  delight  of  her  crew.  "  Handsome  and 
handy,"  is  the  alliteration  generally  employed  by 
her  crew  when  speaking  of  her  to  their  sailor 
friends. 

As  to  her  interior  no  pains  or  expense  had  been 
spared.     She  was  fitted  out  with  every  convenience, 


KATIE    AND     MAUD.  221 

not  to  say  luxury.  Did  not  her  crew  experience  a 
thrill  of  rapture,  when  first  they  beheld  her  ample 
forecastle  and  breathed  its  fresh,  pure  air  ?  And 
the  black  cook  did  not  cease  to  grin  over  his  gal- 
ley during  his  entire  first  month's  service.  As 
for  the  sailing  master,  astonishment  laid  hold  upon 
him  the  first  time  he  viewed  his  quarters.  He 
was  forced  to  take  a  peep  into  Mr.  Aston's  luxuri- 
ous apartment  across  the  deck,  to  make  sure  that 
he  had  not  been  assigned  to  the  wrong  room. 

The  saloon  is  quite  incomparable.  It  is  spa- 
cious, handsomely  furnished  and  decorated.  The 
ceiling  is  frescoed,  while  the  walls  are  covered  with 
most  exquisite  pictures  and  carvings.  The  side- 
boards, chairs,  sofas,  hangings  and  man)'  other 
things,  have  all  been  specially  made  for  this  yacht, 
and  not  a  few  of  them  are  unique  and  beautiful  in 
themselves.  The  yacht  monogram  abounds  every- 
where ;  as  if  the  Celeste  thought  of  nothing  else 
but  herself.  It  is  cut  and  carved  and  embroidered 
into  everything  wherever  there  is  the  smallest 
excuse  for  so  doing. 

And  more  than  all,  there  is  the  most  perfect 
system  of  ventilation  ;  swinging  couches,  electric 
bells  and  lights,  turning  chairs  at  table,  and  so 
forth  ;  and  by  universal  acknowledgment  and  con- 
sent, the  Celeste  stands  in  her  class  the  finest 
yacht  afloat.  So  positive  was  Katie  that  she 
desired  to  name  her  the  "  Golden  Lily,"   but  for  a 


222  KATIE    AND    MAUD. 

peculiar  reason,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  her 
father's  preference  prevailed. 

The  steamer  has  at  last  rounded  Schooner 
Head,  and  is  now  standing  up  the  harbor.  Two 
pretty  binocular  glasses,  one  from  the  steamer's 
bows,  and  the  other  from  the  wharf,  are  earnestly- 
searching  the  crowd  in  waiting  and  the  crowd  in 
transit.  In  a  moment  the  glasses  go  down  and 
handkerchiefs  go  up  and  out  in  mutual  and  de- 
lighted recognition.  And  hardly  has  the  wharf 
ceased  staggering  under  the  mighty  strain  of  the 
steamer's  hawsers,  before  the  young  ladies  meet 
in  a  warm  embrace. 

"  I'm  so  glad  you've  come  !  "  exclaimed  Katie. 
"Bar  Harbor  is  such  a  lovely  place,  and  the  Celeste 
is  such  a  'golden  lily'  of  a  yacht"  —  the  name 
she  preferred  adjectively  in  her  references  to  the 
Celeste. 

We  can  hardly  get  a  good  look  at  Miss  Maud, 
Katie  is  in  such  transports  over  her.  We  can,  how- 
ever, give  her  only  a  casual  notice  as  she  fills  a 
pleasant,  but  not  important  place  in  this  story. 
We  must  see  how  she  looks,  at  any  rate,  if  descrip- 
tions of  girls  are  so  very  commonplace  in  stories. 
From  the  few  glimpses  we  get  of  her  in  the  crowd 
we  discover  that  she  has  become  a  very  attractive 
young  woman.  She  is  quite  tall,  has  a  good  fig- 
ure, and  is  natural  and  graceful  in  her  movements. 
She  has  a  sweet  little   mouth,   a  fine  nose,   well- 


KATIE    AND     MAUD.  223 

moulded  brow,  and  rather  handsome  dark  eyes, 
with  hair  to  correspond.  Her  face  has  some 
imperfections,  which  no  doubt  enhance  the  general 
effect  of  her  beauty.  Katie  says  she  is  a  beautiful 
girl,  and  that  ought  to  suffice  us  ;  for  Katie's  judg- 
ment in  this  respect  may  be  regarded  as  final. 
We  notice  further,  that  there  is  the  same  old  play 
of  humor  about  Miss  Maud's  mouth,  and  the  same 
mischievous  twinkle  in  her  eyes.  Wonder  if  Joe 
Bently  would  encounter  them  now  with  so  much 
dread  as  on  a  former  occasion  ? 

All  these  years  Katie  and  Maud  have  been  the 
best  of  friends.  They  have  been  together  much 
of  the  time,  attending  the  same  schools  and  visit- 
ing each  other  during  their  vacations.  A  strong, 
beautiful  friendship  exists  between  them,  and  they 
are  never  so  happy  as  when  in  each  other's  society. 
The  very  day  on  which  Mr.  Aston  decided  to  build 
the  Celeste,  Katie  wrote  Maud  a  most  cordial  in- 
vitation to  become  her  guest  on  the  first  cruise, 
with  the  result  which  is  now  beheld. 

"  Oh  !  you  don't  know  what  you  missed  by  not 
going  with  papa  and  me  on  the  trial  trip  !  "  ex- 
claimed Katie,  while  they  were  still  wedged  in 
among  the  crowd. 

Katie  had  strongly  urged  Miss  Maud  to  accom- 
pany them  on  the  first  trial  of  the  Celeste,  but  a 
vision  of  housed  topmasts  and  green  seas  had 
deterred  her. 


224  KATIE    AND    MAUD. 

"Did  she  behave  well  ?"  asked  Maud,  in  appar- 
ent innocence,  thanking  her  stars  that  during  that 
critical  period  she  had  been  safely  housed  in  her 
Commonwealth  Avenue  home. 

"Behave  well !  I  should  say  she  did,"  returned 
Katie  with  enthusiasm.  "  She  was  as  manageable 
as  Forest.      It  blew  like  a  "  — 

"Wagner  orchestra,"  suggested  Maud. 

Katie  could  not  inspire  Maud  with  her  own  en- 
thusiasm—  at  least,  just  at  this  moment.  The 
trip  from  Portland  had  been  a  rueful  one  to  her. 
She  was  a  bad  sailor,  and  just  now  she  wished  that 
all  yachts  and  steamboats  were  exhibiting  their 
mammoth  skeletons  from  the  rocky  shores  of  the 
adjacent  islands.  She  thought  she  could,  with  a 
malicious  delight,  thus  transfer  their  melancholy 
remains  to  her  sketch-book.  But  presently,  as 
they  reached  a  corner  of  the  freight  house,  she 
asked  Katie  in  a  tone  of  feined  anxiety,  if  any- 
thing was  the  matter  with  the  wharf. 

"What  do  you  mean  ?  "  responded  Katie  in  evi- 
dent alarm. 

"Why,  just  look  at  the  people  !  " 

Everybody,  in  the  greatest  hurry  and  apparent 
confusion,  was  vacating  the  pier.  A  stream  of 
buck-boards,  omnibuses,  carriages,  drays  and  pe- 
destrians, was  rushing  pell-mell  for  solid  ground. 

"Something  must  have  happened,"  continued 
Maud,  "to  create  a  panic  like  that." 


KATIE    AND     MAUD.  225 

"Don't  you  know  what  it  is?"  asked  Katie, 
laughing  heartily.  "It's  dinner  time  at  the  hotels. 
What  does  it  remind  you  of?" 

"  I  don't  know,  unless  it's  the  pigeons  of  Venice." 

Here  the  conversation  was  interrupted  by  the 
appearance  of  a  boatman,  to  whom  Maud  consigned 
her  checks.  As  she  saw  how  the  baggage  was 
being  handled,  she  asked  him  if  he  wouldn't  be 
good  enough  to  bring  her  things  off  in  baskets,  in 
case  the  trunks  didn't  hold  out. 

By  a  good  deal  of  ducking  under  ropes  and 
climbing  over  the  latest  invoice  of  canned  goods, 
preserved  by  the  nimbleness  of  youth,  and  that 
sweet  little  cherub  that  sat  up  aloft  in  the  Celeste's 
rigging,  but  would  persist  in  leaving  his  perch  to 
follow  Katie  every  time  she  went  ashore,  they  at 
last  reached  the  gig.  Here  Miss  Maud's  feelings 
underwent  a  change.  The  lingering  overcast  of 
her  disagreeable  passage  began  to  clear  away. 
She  could  hardly  say  enough  to  express  her  de- 
light over  the  long,  slender  boat,  and  the  hand- 
somely-uniformed crew.  And  once  under  way,  the 
fine,  rhythmical  strokes  of  the  oars,  the  gondola- 
like motion  of  the  boat  as  she  slipped  through  the 
shining  water,  the  touch  of  the  welcoming  sea- 
breeze  upon  her  cheek,  completely  revived  her  and 
put  her  in  the  best  of  humor,  preparing  her  for 
that  exquisite  pleasure  which  the  first  full  sight  of 
Bar  Harbor  never  fails  to  impart. 


226  KATIE    AND     MAUD. 

But  here  lies  the  yacht,  bright  and  beautiful 
against  the  dark  masses  of  birch,  spruce  and 
maple,  that  cling  to  the  sides  and  summit  of 
Round  Porcupine.  Katie  insists  that  this  name  is 
a  misnomer,  as  the  island  looks  more  like  a  noble 
lion,  set  to  guard  the  Celeste,  than  a  porcupine. 

"Oh!  what  a  picture!"  cried  Maud,  pausing  at 
the  top  of  the  gangway,  and  surveying  the  whole 
broad  view. 

The  great,  noble  hills  of  Mt.  Desert  lay  in  the 
background,  all  golden  in  the  afternoon  sun  ;  the 
rocky  headlands,  half  smothered  in  foam,  threw 
their  fantastic  shapes  far  out  into  the  sea ;  beyond 
Egg  Rock  Light  the  ocean  stretched  dreamily 
away,  covered  with  white-sailed  ships  moving  lazily 
along  over  the  radiant  surface  ;  boats  and  canoes 
darted  swiftly  about,  their  occupants  flaunting  the 
gay  colors  of  their  costumes  in  the  face  of  the 
sun  ;  sea-birds  sported  in  the  bright  little  coves  ; 
and  children  played  and  shouted  and  sang  along 
the  beach.  Maud  stood  enchanted,  as  well  she 
might  be  with  a  scene  like  this,  and  only  Katie's 
importunity  hurried  her  away. 

Katie's  attention  and  interest  for  the  present, 
were  centered  in  the  cabin,  into  which  she  ushered 
her  young  guest  with  little  ceremony.  She  could 
hardly  wait  until  the  family  welcome  was  over, 
before  she  led  her  to  a  state-room  door  and  bade 
her  enter  and  look  around  very  sharply. 


KATIE    AND    MAUD.  22^ 

"Oh!  how  lovely!"  exclaimed  Maud.  "Is  it 
yours  ? " 

"Mine,"  answered  Katie,  her  eyes  fairly  spark- 
ling with  the  secret  she  was  trying  to  keep  back. 
"  It's  Miss  Maud  Edgerton's,  'to  have  and  to  hold  ', 
and  everything  else." 

"Why,  what  do  you  mean  ?"  said  Maud,  taken 
all  aback. 

"  I  mean  that  you  are  its  owner  —  its  absolute, 
bona  fide  owner.  It's  my  present  to  you.  Papa 
let  me  furnish  and  decorate  it  just  as  I  thought 
you  would  like  to  have  it.  Now  how  do  you  like 
it?" 

The  scene  which  followed  is  hardly  to  be  de- 
scribed. There  were  embraces,  tears,  exclama- 
tions and  pet  names.  Mr.  Aston  had  empowered 
Katie  to  do  with  this  room  as  she  chose,  furnish- 
ing ample  means  for  the  gratification  of  her  taste, 
and  Maud  now  rejoiced  in  the  possession,  as  she 
expressed  it,  "  of  the  sweetest,  prettiest  state-room 
afloat."  She  was  Katie's  dearest  friend,  and  noth- 
ing was  quite  good  enough  for  her. 

"I'm  so  glad  you  like  it,"  said  Katie  affection- 
ately, after  Maud  had  expressed  her  appreciation 
of  it  many  times  over;  "but  here  are  your  trunks, 
now.  Get  your  prettiest  yachting  suit  right  out, 
and  we'll  form  ourselves  into  a  board  of  inspection, 
and  take  a  look  at  the  Celeste." 

Miss  Maud's  proprietary  rights  having  been  duly 


228  KATIE    AND    MAUD. 

established,  she  was  as  impatient  as  Katie  to  make 
an  inspectional  tour  of  the  yacht.  But  the  trunks 
for  the  moment  proved  the  more  irresistible.  Who- 
ever knew  a  yacht  to  supersede  in  interest  newly- 
arrived  feminine  apparel  ?  Through  Katie's  sug- 
gestion and  advice,  Miss  Maud  had  made  elaborate 
preparations  for  the  diversified  occupations  and 
sports  of  Bar  Harbor.  What  numbers  of  letters 
had  passed  between  them,  and  what  anxiety  had 
been  experienced  over  the  handsome  wardrobe 
now  being  overhauled!  "Overhauled"  was  the 
word  used  by  the  young  ladies  as  comporting  more 
nearly  with  their  surroundings.  After  a  minute 
examination  of  the  contents  of  the  trunks,  inter- 
spersed with  observations  and  comments  on  the 
social  and  other  customs  of  Bar  Harbor,  Katie 
told  her  friend  without  a  shade  of  envy  that  she 
could  easily  pass  muster  on  any  Bar  Harbor  occa- 
sion ;  and,  if  she  chose,  be  the  belle  of  the  sea- 
son. Over  and  over  again  Katie  had  apprised  her 
of  the  Bar-Harborite  fondness  for  color,  and  she 
had  come  prepared  to  array  herself  in  the  chro- 
matic splendors  of  the  tropics,  and  thus,  if  she 
desired,  capture  the  town. 

"You're  ready  for  everything,  I   see,"  observed 
Katie,  with  a  smile. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  everything?" 
"  Oh  !  yachting,  canoeing  and  what  the  people 
here  call  'rocking;'." 


KATIE    AND    MAUD.  229 

"And  lawning  and  hopping,"  laughingly  inter- 
rupted Maud. 

"There's  so  much  to  do,"  continued  Katie,  "and 
nobody  to  go  about  with  us  but  papa  ;  and  it's  such 
a  bore  to  him  !  " 

"If  only  Ned  could  have  come,"  regretfully  ob- 
served Maud,  "what  jolly  times  we  would  have 
had  ;  he's  so  fond  of  Mt.  Desert,  you  know  !  " 

"  Oh  !  he's  coming  in  August,"  replied  Katie. 
"Why,  you  darling  girl ! "  she  suddenly  exclaimed, 
dropping  a  piece  of  Maud's  finest  apparel  upon  the 
floor  ;  I  didn't  see  that  before  !  You  don't  mean  to 
say  "  — 

"  O,  yes,"  said  Maud,  blushing  and  holding  up  a 
ring  to  give  Katie  a  better  view ;  "  Ned  wouldn't 
take  No  for  an  answer,  and  what  could  I  do  ?  " 

In  the  excitement  that  followed  this  mutual 
discovery  and  revelation,  both  wardrobe  and  yacht 
were  entirely  forgotten.  If  Joe  could  only  have 
listened  to  the  ensuing  conversation,  what  would 
have  been  his  thoughts  ?  He  had  been  telling 
himself  all  along,  that  Ned  Brentford  and  Katie 
were  in  love  with  each  other.  This  thought  had 
somewhat  reassured  him ;  for,  he  naturally  rea- 
soned, his  friends  would  credit  him  with  sufficient 
discernment  to  see  how  matters  stood.  And  they 
would  think  he  would  thus  be  prevented  from 
cherishing  anything  more  than  a  friendly  regard 
for  Katie.     As  to  the  suspicion  Mrs.  Pepper  had 


23O  KATIE    AND    MAUD. 

created,  in  his  more  hopeful  moods,  he  trusted 
that  time  and  tact  would  remove  that. 

Still  Joe  could  not  get  over  his  hurt  from  the 
feeling  that  this  woman  had  awakened  distrust 
toward  him  in  the  minds  of  his  friends.  From 
what  he  had  observed  of  her  he  was  sure  she 
would  make  out  a  strong  case  against  him.  She 
would  counsel  the  utmost  care  and  prudence  as 
regarded  his  association  with  Katie  ;  and  in  the 
frosty  atmosphere  of  prudence,  the  vital  currents 
of  the  friendship  he  valued  so  dearly  would  soon 
run  cold. 

Why  had  Mrs.  Pepper  crossed  his  path  to  give 
him  so  much  perplexity  and  distress  ?  Joe  was  too 
young  and  inexperienced  to  realize  that  his  trouble 
over  Mrs.  Pepper,  was  in  part  the  struggle  of  his 
own  heart  to  quench  its  love  for  Katie ;  that  it 
was  largely  the  self-assertiveness  of  his  regard  for 
his  young  friend. 

"Oh  !  "  said  Katie,  after  Maud  had  confided  to 
her  the  whole  story  of  the  engagement,  "I  forgot 
to  mention  Joe  Bently.  He's  coming  in  the  Day- 
break. He'll  scale  mountains,  sail  seas,  penetrate 
anemone  caves  with  us  to  our  hearts'  content." 

At  the  sound  of  Joe  Bently's  name  Maud  gave 
a  little  start.  "  You  can't  guess  where  I  saw  Joe 
Bently,  a  week  or  two  ago,"  she  began. 

"You  couldn't  have  seen  him  anywhere.  He's 
at  sea,  nobody  knows  where,"  said  Katie. 


KATIE    AND    MAUD.  23  I 

"How  do  you  know  he's  at  sea?  "  asked  Maud, 
piquing  Katie's  curiosity  more  and  more. 

"  Because  I  got  a  letter  from  him  the  day  before 
the  Daybreak  sailed.  It  was  such  a  formal,  queer 
letter,  too.  Mamma  and  I  were  greatly  amused 
over  it.  It  began  'Dear  Miss  Aston,'  when  only 
last  month  I  told  him  he  might  address  me  as  he 
used  to,  by  my  simple  name,  Katie.  We've  kept 
the  run  of  Joe  so  long  that  we  feel  he  almost 
belongs  to  us,  you  know.  But  tell  me  where  you 
saw  him  ! " 

"  It  was  the  night  mamma  and  I  returned  from 
New  York  on  the  Bristol.  A  lady  attempted  to 
walk  in  her  sleep,  and  fell  overboard." 

"Well,  that  is  all  very  interesting,"  laughed 
Katie,  "but  not  to  the  point." 

"Don't  be  impatient.  The  Daybreak  happened 
to  be  passing,  and  one  of  the  sailors  jumped  over- 
board and  kept  the  woman  from  drowning  until 
Joe  Bently  rescued  them  with  one  of  the  ship's 
boats." 

"It  was  Dicky  Dawson,  I  know!"  exclaimed 
Katie,  with  great  animation.  Simply  from  Joe's 
descriptions  of  Dawson,  she  had  gotten  to  feel  an 
unusual  interest  in  him.  "  But  how  did  you  know 
it  was  Joe  ?  "  she  added. 

"  Oh !  the  captain  of  the  steamer  hailed  the 
boat,  and  asked  who  the  boat  officer  was.  I  have 
a  bone  to  pick  with  Joe  Bently.      Mamma  and  I 


232  KATIE    AND    MAUD. 

waved  our  handkerchiefs  to  him  in  the  moonlight, 
but  he  didn't  deign  to  answer  our  signal.  I  shall 
just  be  on  my  dignity  with  him,"  concluded  Maud, 
with  an  air  of  assumed  hauteur. 

"Isn't  it  strange  about  Joe?"  said  Katie,  all 
absorbed  in  Maud's  account ;  "  he's  always  turn- 
ing up  where  there's  any  danger.  I  read  a  while 
ago  in  the  Newport  News,  that  the  first  night  he 
stood  watch  he  was  fired  upon  by  two  scoundrels." 

"  How  was  that  ?  "  asked  Maud. 

"Just  because  he  was  ordered  to  capture  them, 
for  smuggling  liquor.  It  wasn't  his  fault  that  he 
had  to  obey  orders,  you  know  ;  and  he  might  have 
been  shot !  " 

"  Soldiers  are  ordered  into  battle.  Is  that  any 
reason  they  shouldn't  be  shot  ?  "  returned  Maud, 
laughing  that  Katie  should  think  the  ruffians  were 
morally  obligated  not  to  fire  upon  Joe  because  he 
was  ordered  to  arrest  them.  "  But  my  Cousin 
Harry  says  that  Joe  is  the  bravest  cadet  in  the 
Navy." 

"  Nobody  would  ever  know  it ;  he's  so  exces- 
sively modest,"  observed  Katie. 

"  Did  you  enjoy  his  visit  ?  "  inquired  Maud. 

"  Oh  !  ever  so  much.  But  he  didn't  have  a 
good  time  at  all.  Aunt  Pepper  was  more  peppery 
than  ever,  and  papa  doesn't  like  the  Navy,  you 
know,  if  he  did  get  Joe  into  it.  The  poor  fellow 
was  quite  miserable." 


KATIE    AND     MAUD.  233 

"Oh,  ho!"  said  Miss  Maud  to  herself,  at  this 
sympathetic  little  speech.  And  what  would  Mrs. 
Pepper  have  thought  could  she  have  heard  it  also  ? 
And  she  might  have  heard  it  had  she  listened 
sharply,  for  she  was  not  many  state-rooms  distant. 
This  little  breath  of  sentiment  right  from  Katie's 
kind  heart  she  would  have  been  positive  was  a 
premonitory  symptom  of  a  fresh  breeze  about  to 
spring  up  from  the  same  quarter.  As  certain  of 
this  would  she  have  been  as  an  old  sailor  would  be 
from  which  point  of  the  compass  the  wind  was 
going  to  blow  next,  by  the  first  faint  breath  of  air 
that  touched  his  moistened  finger. 

And  what  would  Joe  himself  have  thought  could 
he  have  heard  Katie's  comments  upon  his  visit, 
the  pleasantest  —  for  the  time  being,  though  after- 
wards attended  in  his  imagination  by  such  direful 
consequences  —  of  his  whole  life  ? 

Toward  evening  the  next  day,  as  they  all  sat  on 
deck  watching  the  effect  of  the  sunlight  upon  the 
slopes  and  summits  of  Newport  and  Green  Mount- 
ains, an  exclamation  from  Katie  caused  everybody 
to  look  seaward.  A  ship  strongly  resembling  a 
man-of-war,  was  just  coming  into  view  in  the 
offing.  Glasses  were  leveled  at  the  incoming  ves- 
sel, and  after  a  long  time  it  was  decided  that  she 
must  be  the  Daybreak. 

Katie  and  Maud  kept  up  a  vigorous  waving  of 
handkerchiefs    as    the    stranger,    having    rounded 


234  KATIE    AND    MAUD. 

Schooner  Head,  came  slowly  up  to  her  anchorage, 
but  there  was  no  response.  The  young  ladies 
searched  the  faces  of  the  officers  about  the  deck, 
to  get  a  glimpse  of  Joe  and  Harry,  but  neither  of 
the  young  men  could  be  distinguished. 

"  I  won't  speak  to  Joe  Bently  !  "  said  Maud,  with 
a  juvenile  pout  upon  her  pretty  lips.  "This  is 
the  second  time  he  has  treated  my  signal  with 
contempt." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

LETTING    THE    CAT    OUT    OF    THE    BAG. 

ALL  night  long  the  lookouts  on  the  Daybreak 
strained  their  eyes  watching  for  the  return 
of  our  hero  and  his  party.  As  hour  after  hour 
wore  away,  and  no  signs  of  the  boat  appeared, 
Captain  Farradale  became  very  anxious.  He  knew 
that  the  cutter  was  not  all  that  she  should  be, 
although  he  regarded  her  as  safe  enough  if  prop- 
erly handled.  But  as  the  weather  had  turned  out, 
he  began  to  fear  that  he  had  underestimated  the 
dangers  of  the  expedition.  He  had  the  utmost 
confidence  in  Joe,  so,  after  much  thought,  the 
captain  concluded  that  the  delay  was  owing  to  the 
extreme  vigilance  of  the  flag-ship.  He  could  see 
the  electric  lights  searching  the  encompassing 
darkness,  and  he  was  aware  that  the  greatest  cau- 
tion was  necessary,  and  no  little  time  required, 
to  fix  the  torpedo. 

Still  he  could  not  dispel  his  anxiety.      Nor  did 
he  feel  at   rest  until  day  had  dawned.      The  disa- 
greeable night  was  succeeded  by  a  most  beautiful 
morning.      The  first  brilliant  glow  that  lit  up  Gar- 
235 


236   LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG. 

diner's  Bay,  showed  the  little  launch  creeping 
slowly  back  to  the  ship.  Great  was  the  enthu- 
siasm over  her  return.  There  had  been  a  positive 
conviction,  a  faith  without  a  doubt,  among  the 
crew,  that  Joe  and  Harry  would  not  come  back 
defeated,  and  now  they  could  hardly  keep  from 
giving  them  a  rousing  cheer  as  the  boat  drew  up. 
But  a  great  dread  fell  upon  all  as  she  came  along- 
side, and  an  assistant  surgeon  from  the  flag-ship 
stepped  out  upon  the  gangway,  followed  by  Harry 
and  Conners  bearing  Joe  in  their  arms. 

The  story  is  soon  told.  In  one  respect,  indeed, 
Harry's  warning  had  come  too  late.  Joe  had  been 
successful  in  attaching  the  dummy  torpedo  to  the 
port  rudder  chain,  and  had  thrown  himself  on  his 
back  in  the  water  to  take  breath  when  the  Hotch- 
kiss  cannon  was  discharged.  The  man  stationed 
at  this  gun  had  seen  the  boat,  but  had  not  dis- 
covered Joe  in  the  water.  To  avoid  firing  his 
blank  cartridge  upon  those  in  the  boat  he  turned 
the  piece  downward,  and,  unconsciously,  blazed 
away  right  into  Joe's  face  and  eyes. 

Fortunately  for  Joe,  however,  his  face  was  par- 
tially submerged ;  otherwise  the  powder  would 
have  disfigured  him  for  life.  As  it  was,  he  was 
badly  burned  about  the  eyes.  And  this  was  by 
no  means  the  worst.  The  marine  stationed  at  the 
life-buoy  heard  the  slight  splash  which  Joe  acci- 
dentally made   as   he  threw  himself    back  in  the 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG.    237 

water.  His  curiosity  being  aroused,  he  looked 
over  the  ship's  stern,  where  he  caught  a  glimpse 
of  Joe's  upturned  face. 

Alas  for  poor  Joe !  Just  as  the  explosion  from 
the  gun  took  place  the  lookout  let  go  the  buoy, 
which  in  falling  dealt  our  hero  a  heavy  blow  upon 
the  head,  striking  him  senseless.  The  lookout 
believed  he  was  befriending  one  of  his  own  ship- 
mates, who,  he  supposed,  had  accidentally  fallen 
overboard. 

Although  Harry  came  near  being  thrown  from 
his  feet  by  the  concussion  of  the  Hotchkiss  can- 
non, and  was,  as  we  have  seen,  slightly  dazed,  he 
at  once  realized  that  something  must  have  hap- 
pened to  his  comrade.  Acting  upon  his  first 
impulse,  he  threw  himself  into  the  water,  and  was 
quickly  at  Joe's  side.  Not  a  second  too  soon  did 
he  reach  him  ;  for  Joe  was  just  disappearing  as 
Harry  laid  hold  upon  him  and  raised  his  head 
above  water.  A  moment  later  and  he  would 
doubtless  have  been  beyond  all  rescue. 

The  flag-ship  was  in  a  state  of  commotion. 
The  cry,  "Man  overboard!"  had  been  given,  and 
all  had  hurried  on  deck.  The  captain  and  admiral 
left  their  respective  cabins,  and  stood  among  the 
men  and  officers,  most  interested  spectators.  It 
took  but  a  few  moments  to  get  the  imperilled 
cadets  out  of  the  water,  but  considerable  time  was 
required  for  Joe's  resuscitation. 


238   LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG. 

The  surgeons  found  an  ugly  wound  upon  his 
head  which,  they  said,  had  it  been  received  a  little 
lower  down,  would  have  proved  fatal.  His  eyes 
had  also  suffered,  but,  they  hoped,  only  temporary 
injury. 

The  members  of  the  sick  bay  were  amused  at 
Joe's  first  words,  as  consciousness  returned.  They 
were,  "Well,  the  torpedo's  all  right,  anyway;  no 
matter  what's  happened  me." 

Not  many  days  after,  Joe  was  groping  about  in 
Captain  Farradale's  cabin.  A  portion  of  it  had 
been  darkened  for  his  benefit,  for  his  eyes  could 
not  bear  the  light.  Joe  was  in  no  desirable  frame 
of  mind  when  the  Daybreak  was  sighted  by  Katie 
Aston,  putting  her  best  foot  forward  to  reach  her 
anchorage  before  night  should  come.  The  rattle 
of  her  cable  shortly  after,  as  her  anchor  sped  to 
its  holding  ground,  sounded  a  knell  in  Joe's  soul. 
Mrs.  Pepper  had  been  in  his  thoughts  all  the  way 
from  Gardiner's  Bay  to  Mt.  Desert,  and  here  he 
was  now  probably  within  a  stone's  throw  of  this 
destroyer,  as  he  affirmed  to  himself,  of  the  hap- 
piest friendship  of  his  life. 

It  seemed  very  strange  to  the  party  on  board 
the  Celeste  that  all  the  next  day  no  signs  of  either 
Joe  or  Harry  were  seen  about  the  Daybreak's 
deck.  Mr.  Aston  thought  the  least  Bently  could 
do  was  to  report  his  arrival,  and  Maud  was  not 
slow  in  expressing   her  mind   as    to    her  cousin's 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG.    239 

indifference.  From  the  outset  each  young  lady 
fancied  that  she  had  a  personal  grievance.  Such 
inattention,  we  might  almost  say  incivility,  on  the 
part  of  a  protege  —  for  they  rather  regarded  Joe 
as  such  —  and  a  cousin,  was  no  slight  offense  in 
their  eyes. 

Another  day  passed,  and  still  nothing  was  heard 
of  either  cadet.  In  some  way  or  other,  Captain 
Farradale  had,  meanwhile,  learned  that  the  Astons 
were  Joe's  friends,  and  he  had  offered  to  forward 
a  note,  telling  them  of  the  accident.  But  Joe 
begged  him  not  to  do  so  ;  for  he  was  now  more 
averse  to  meeting  them  than  ever.  He  had  about 
decided  to  accept  a  leave  of  absence,  which  Cap- 
tain Farradale  had  been  kind  enough  to  offer. 
This  the  doctor  thought  he  might  do  in  a  week,  at 
least.  He  would  go  to  his  own  home,  and  that 
would  prevent  his  meeting  Katie.  He  felt  sure  that 
Mrs.  Pepper  had  a  predilection  for  yachting ;  also, 
that  when  he  was  well  enough  to  do  so,  should  he 
go  on  board  the  Celeste,  this  lady  would  be  the  first 
to  confront  him.  Nevertheless,  Joe  cherished  a 
hope  that  Mr.  Aston  might  take  it  into  his  head  to 
pay  him  a  visit,  though  why  he  should  do  so  he 
could  not  give  a  sufficient  reason  even  to  himself. 
And  his  mind  was  kept  in  a  state  of  great  disquiet. 

How  long  this  condition  of  affairs  might  have 
continued,  had  not  a  slight  accident  put  things  to 
rights,  it  is  not  safe  to  conjecture.      One  morning, 


24O   LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG. 

when  ashore,  Captain  Farradale  left  his  gig  hauled 
out  at  the  landing  in  charge  of  Dicky  Dawson. 
Now  it  so  happened  that  the  Celeste's  gig,  with 
Katie  and  her  friend  on  board,  made  a  trip  to  the 
town  shortly  after.  In  coming  up  to  the  landing, 
her  headway  was  not  checked  soon  enough,  and 
she  ran  plump  into  the  Daybreak's  boat.  Dawson 
rose  quickly  from  his  seat  in  the  gig,  and,  doffing 
his  cap  to  the  young  ladies,  looked  as  if  he  was 
prepared  to  dispute  with  the  fair  mistress  of  the 
strange  boat  as  to  where  the  blame  for  the  collision 
belonged. 

"Oh!  it  was  our  fault,"  said  Katie,  quickly 
divining  Dawson's  look.  "You  should  be  more 
careful,  coxswain,"  she  added,  in  a  tone  of  gentle 
reproof,  to  the  man  in  charge  of  the  Celeste's 
boat. 

"I  begs  pardon,"  said  Dicky;  "I's  sorry  yer 
starboard  arrer's  knocked  off." 

"  That  beautiful  arrow  !  "  exclaimed  Miss  Maud. 
"What  a  shame  !  " 

"Well,  it  can't  be  helped  now,"  said  Katie,  lean- 
ing over  the  side  and  trying  to  get  a  look  at  the 
gig's  bow.  "Did  we  injure  your  boat,"  she  in- 
quired, looking  up  at  Dawson,  who  was  still  politely 
standing. 

"  No,  Miss  ;  she  didn't  mind  it.  It's  allers  the 
other  boat  as  gits  hurt  with  her." 

All  at  once   Dicky  began  to  grow  uneasy.      He 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG.    24 1 

became  conscious  that  the  young  ladies  were  gaz- 
ing upon  him  very  earnestly. 

At  first  they  supposed  his  boat  belonged  to  one 
of  the  numerous  yachts  in  the  harbor,  but  had  now 
discovered  that  she  was  a  man-of-war  boat. 

"  Does  this  boat  belong  to  the  Daybreak  ?  "  asked 
Maud. 

"  It's  the  capen's  gig,  Miss.  It's  waitin'  fur 
him." 

"  Have  you  a  cadet  on  board  named  Harry 
Edgerton  ?  "  continued  Maud. 

"  We  has  a  cadet  of  that  name,  Miss  ;  but  he's 
away  in  New  York." 

Harry  had  left  the  Daybreak  at  Gardiner's  Bay, 
with  permission  to  rejoin  her  in  one  week  at  Bar 
Harbor. 

"Is  Joe  Bently  on  leave,  too?"  propounded 
Katie. 

"  No,  no,  Miss,"  said  Dawson,  shaking  his  head, 
while  the  tears  sprang  to  his  eyes. 

"What  !  has  anything  happened  to  him  ?  asked 
Katie,  alarmed  at  Dawson's  manner. 

"Yes,  Miss,"  said  Dawson,  sorrowfully.  "Oh! 
but  he's  a  brave  lad  ;  he's  a  brave  lad." 

The  young  ladies  dare  not  utter  another  word. 
For  some  dreadful  revelation  concerning  Joe  was 
pending,  they  believed.  During  the  silence  Katie 
was  indulging  in  no  little  resentment  toward  the 
Aston  family,  herself    included,   for  what  at  this 


242    LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG. 

instant  seemed  to  her  their  utter  indifference  to 
the  existence  of  Joe  Bently  since  the  Daybreak's 
arrival. 

"  Not  as  I  wishes  to  make  yer  feel  bad,  Miss  ; 
fur  I  sees  ye  knows  Joe  Bently,"  Dawson  went  on 
with  painful  slowness  ;  "  but  he's  very  bad,  very 
bad." 

"Do  tell  me  what  has  happened  to  him,"  pleaded 
Katie  at  last,  with  a  trembling  voice. 

Thereupon  Dawson  proceeded  to  relate  the  tale 
of  Joe's  mishap  to  his  excited  and  sympathetic 
auditors.  Little  by  little  they  learned  the  whole 
story,  which  Dawson,  from  his  great  love  and  sym- 
pathy for  Joe,  told  with  real,  if  rude,  eloquence. 
The  young  ladies  were  greatly  shocked  at  the  re- 
cital, and  would  have  received  the  impression  that 
Joe  was  in  an  extremely  critical  condition  had  they 
not,  by  careful  questioning,  got  at  pretty  nearly 
the  state  of  the  case. 

"Poor  fellow,"  said  Katie;  "he's  always  getting 
into  trouble." 

"It's  ginerally  the  likes  o'  him  as  somethin's 
allers  a-happenin'  to,"  said  Dawson.  "There's  a 
grudge  in  natur'  ag'in  good  young  men,  Miss." 

"I  hope  not,"  said  Katie,  amused  in  spite  of 
herself. 

"And  pertikerlerly  in  a  seafarin'  life,"  added 
Dawson. 

The  young  ladies  smiled  at   Dawson's  not  alto- 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG.    243 

gether  novel,  but  rather  pertinent  views,  and  Maud 
inquired  if  Joe  was  well  enough  to  go  about  the 
ship. 

"  He  knocks  about  the  cabin,  Miss ;  but  it  ain't 
his  mashed  head  nor  his  blinted  eyes  as  breaks 
him  up  so,"  returned  Dawson. 

"What  is  it,  then?"  questioned  Katie. 

"He's  worritted  about  somethin',  Miss." 

"Perhaps  it's  his  mother,"  said  Katie,  sympa- 
thetically. "Maybe  she's  ill;  he  thinks  so  much 
of  her." 

"  No,  Miss,  there  ain't  no  mother  in  this  busi- 
ness," said  Dawson,  with  emphasis.  "But  I  allers 
tries  to  cheer  him  up,"  he  proceeded.  "'Why,' 
says  I,  the  last  night  we  was  on  watch  together, 
says  I,  'how  can  you  be  a  frettin'  on  yourself  so, 
sir?'  'How  do  you  know  I's  frettin'  on  myself?' 
says  he.  'Oh!  I  knows  you  be,  sir,'  says  I.  'If 
you  has  trouble,  you  ought  to  remember  what's 
inter  the  Bible.'  'Well,  what's  inter  the  Bible?' 
says  he.  'I's  no  scholar,  as  you  knows,  sir,'  says 
I ;  'but  don't  it  say  somewhere  that  the  way  is  so 
plain  that  a  seafarin'  man,  though  a  fool,  need  not 
err  ther'in  ?  Now,'  says  I,  'how  can  you  be  a 
takin'  on  in  yer  mind  so,  rememberin'  all  that ; 
an'  the  stars  a-lookin'  down  on  us,  too,  so  beautiful 
and  serene  like  ;  an'  the  sea  a-shinin'  like  a  silver 
dish?  It's  the  sailor's  promise,'  says  I,  'as  I's 
heern  tell  the  rainbow's  the  farmer's.'  " 


244   LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG. 

Dicky  did  not  look  surprised  to  see  the  young 
ladies  shaking  with  laughter  when  he  had  finished 
his  recital.  He  had  observed  the  same  phenome- 
non in  Joe  on  the  night  referred  to. 

"Well,  what  did  he  say  to  that  ?"  asked  Katie 
when  she  had  recovered  breath. 

"  He  turned  it  right  back  on  to  me,  Miss.  '  Now,' 
says  he,  in  the  kindest  an'  most  delecit  manner, 
'now,  Dawson,'  "  — 

"What!"  interrupted  Katie,  "are  you  Dicky 
Dawson  ?  " 

"I  'lows  I  be,  Miss;  it's  the  name  I  ginerly 
goes  by." 

If  boats  were  not  such  ticklish  affairs,  Katie's 
plump  little  hand  would,  the  next  instant,  have 
been  in  Dawson's  big  brown  palm.  As  it  was,  she 
gave  him  such  an  admiring  look  that  he  fairly 
blushed.  Joe  had  told  her  so  much  about  Dawson 
that  her  imagination  had  clothed  him  with  a  ro- 
mantic interest.  And  now  that  he  stood  before 
her  she  was  in  no  wise  disappointed.  He  was  a 
striking  appearing  old  sailor-man,  full  to  the  brim 
of  gallantry  and  kindness.  His  bronzed  face  fairly 
shone  with  good-nature,  and  he  had  talked  so 
tenderly  about  Joe  that,  notwithstanding  the  amus- 
ing character  of  his  remarks,  the  young  ladies  had 
been  quite  melted  by  them.  It  is  extremely  doubt- 
ful, however,  if  this  relaxed  state  of  feeling  would 
have  been  so  easily  produced  had  Dawson  related 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG.    245 

the  same  incidents  concerning  anybody  else  but 
Joe. 

But  two  obstacles  were  now  in  the  way  of  fur- 
ther conversation  :  the  arrival  of  Captain  Farra- 
dale,  and  Katie's  anxiety  to  make  known  to  her 
father  what  she  had  learned  about  Joe.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  object  of  the  young  ladies' 
visit  ashore  it  was  quickly  compassed,  and  they 
were  shortly  after  on  board  the  Celeste  again. 
Katie  told  the  story  with  great  volubility.  She 
would  have  been  highly  amusing  had  not  the  sub- 
ject been  of  such  a  serious  nature.  She  concluded 
the  account  with  the  observation  :  "  We  might 
have  known  that  something  had  happened  to  Joe. 
He  thinks  too  much  of  papa  ever  to  neglect  pay- 
ing his  respects  to  him." 

Could  our  hero  have  known  of  this  conversation, 
he  would  have  been  unmanned  indeed.  During 
the  talk  that  followed  it  was  decided  that  Joe 
needed  a  change ;  he  must  be  transferred  to  the 
yacht  as  soon  as  practicable.  And  could  he  have 
heard,  shortly  after,  Mrs.  Aston  giving  orders  to 
make  ready  the  largest  state-room  in  the  cabin  for 
his  reception,  it  is  doubtful  if  he  would  have 
believed  his  own  hearing. 

That  afternoon,  however,  Mr.  Aston  started  in 
the  yacht's  gig  for  the  Daybreak,  with  full  author- 
ity to  return  with  Joe  Bently  in  custody.  The 
sympathetic    young    ladies    charged    him    not     to 


246    LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG. 

listen  to  any  protests  from  either  the  captain  or 
the  cadet  himself,  but  to  summarily  remove  him 
from  one  vessel  to  the  other. 

While  awaiting  the  result  of  Mr.  Aston's  visit, 
we  may  as  well  look  in  upon  Mrs.  Pepper.  It  may 
be  gratifying  to  learn  if  there  is  any  justice  in  our 
hero's  mental  accusations.  As  we  have  already 
met  her  on  board  the  yacht  with  her  friends,  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  that  there  had  been  unwil- 
ling acquiescence  on  their  part  in  her  decision  to 
thus  spend  the  season  with  them.  So  Joe's  fear, 
therefore,  that  she  was  a  member  of  the  yachting 
party,  was  well  grounded.  So,  also,  were  his  con- 
jectures in  relation  to  the  feelings  she  bore  him. 
Joe  had  read  her  character,  and  remarked  on  the 
tireless  use  of  her  observing  faculties.  He  was 
sharp  enough,  also,  to  hold  her  before  his  mind  in 
as  careful  an  analysis  as  he  could  the  toughest 
kind  of  a  theorem.  But  in  herself  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  Mrs.  Pepper  was  not  a  very  difficult 
proposition. 

He  had  no  sooner  left  Mr.  Aston's  house  on  his 
last  visit,  than  she  entered  upon  an  active  crusade 
against  him.  "I  should  think,  Franklin,"  said  she 
on  that  very  evening  as  she  sat  sewing  with  Mrs. 
Aston  (Katie  had  bade  them  good-night  and  gone 
to  her  room),  "I  should  think,  Franklin,"  she  re- 
peated, "you  would  be  more  discriminating  in 
regard  to  your  visitors." 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG.    24/ 

"What  do  you  mean  ?  "  said  Mr.  Aston,  looking 
up  quickly  from  his  paper. 

"  I  mean  just  that." 

"  Well,  I  confess  I  do  not  understand  you,"  he 
continued. 

"A  man  who  has  daughters  should  pay  some 
attention  to  the  station  in  life  of  the  young  men 
who  are  interested  in  them,"  proceeded  Mrs.  Pep- 
per, speaking  on  general  principles. 

"  I  may  be  dull  of  comprehension,"  said  Mr. 
Aston,  with  a  poor  attempt  at  concealing  his  annoy- 
ance, "but  I  fail  to  see  what  you  are  driving  at." 

"Do  you  think  it's  just  the  thing  to  foster  a 
friendship  between  that  young  Bently  and  Katie  ? " 
said  Mrs.  Pepper,  now  dropping  all  vagueness. 
"  Young  girls,  you  know,  are  very  susceptible, 
especially  in  the  case  of  brass  buttons." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston  were  accustomed  to  Mrs. 
Pepper's  keen  interest  in  everything  appertaining 
to  themselves  and  Katie,  and  to  her  great  plain- 
ness of  speech ;  but  on  this  occasion  they  were 
taken  completely  aback.  This  was  a  phase  of  the 
matter  which  was  entirely  new  to  them.  Never 
had  a  suspicion  crossed  their  minds  that  anything 
more  than  friendship  could  result  from  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Katie  and  Joe.  And  now  Mrs.  Pep. 
per's  words  were  so  much  in  the  nature  of  a 
surprise  that  neither  of   them  uttered  a  syllable. 

"Unless  you  want  Katie  to  marry  a  naval  offi- 


240   LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG. 

cer,"  added  Mrs.  Pepper,  thinking  their  apprehen- 
sion still  so  extremely  wooden  that  it  needed  an- 
other wedge  to  open  it,  "you'd  better  not  encour- 
age any  more  visits  from  Joe  Bently." 

This  was  the  way  Mrs.  Pepper  let  the  cat  out 
of  the  bag;  as  Joe  surmised  she  would  do.  And 
he  thought,  so  unappreciative  was  he  of  Mrs.  Pep- 
per, if  there  had  been  no  cat  in  the  bag  she  would 
have  created  one  merely  for  the  delight  of  letting 
it  out.  It  is  certain  that  on  this  particular  even- 
ing she  was  not  long  in  untying  the  strings  of  the 
bag  in  question,  and  the  cat  came  out  with  a  leap. 

"I'm  sure,"  said  Mr.  Aston,  when  he  had  some- 
what recovered  his  senses,  "  that  Bently  would 
never  allow  himself  to  indulge  any  feeling  toward 
Katie  stronger  than  ordinary  friendship,  without 
our  knowledge  and  approval." 

"He's  the  soul  of  manliness  and  honor,"  said 
Mrs.  Aston,  with  considerable  warmth. 

"You  don't  know  these  young  naval  officers," 
answered  Mrs.  Pepper,  with  a  deprecating  shake 
of  the  head. 

"I  know  him,"  said  Mr.  Aston  with  emphasis. 

"  I  know  him,  too,"  continued  she  with  asperity. 
"There  isn't  one  of  them  but  thinks  he  ought  to 
marry  an  heiress  or  a  princess.  You'd  better  take 
my  advice,  and  be  on  the  safe  side." 

"  How  on  the  safe  side  ? "  asked  Mrs.  Aston. 

"By  not  inviting  him  here  any  more." 


LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG.    249 

"  That's  a  matter  for  us  to  decide,"  said  Mr. 
Aston  very  gingerly. 

"Well,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  warn  you,"  re- 
plied Mrs.  Pepper  with  extreme  tartness. 

"You'll  pardon  me,  then,"  said  Mr.  Aston  with 
some  severity ;  "  but  I  do  not  think  the  circum- 
stances at  all  call  for  the  warning.  And,  further, 
I  want  Katie  to  hear  none  of  this  nonsense." 

Mrs.  Pepper  was  by  no  means- quenched  by  this. 
She  was  accustomed  to  rejoinders  calculated  to 
bring  her  insinuating,  mischievous  observations  to 
an  end.  She  now  proceeded  to  set  forth  the  ter- 
rible danger  in  which  Katie  stood  of  having  Joe 
Bently  for  a  lover,  and  to  assail  Joe  for  his  daring, 
robber-like  presumption  in  the  case.  Finally  she 
remarked  : 

"Well,  it  isn't  my  affair.  If  you  want  to  throw 
her  away,  you  can  do  so,  for  all  of  me."  Thus 
washing  her  hands  of  the  matter,  she  flounced  out 
of  the  room. 

Thus  left  to  themselves,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston 
looked  at  each  other  a  full  half-minute  without 
speaking  Mrs.  Pepper  had  certainly  placed  Joe  in 
a  light  in  which  they  had  never  before  viewed 
him.  And  the  light  was  even  stronger  than  he 
had  suspected  it  could  be.  And  now  how  did  Joe 
appear  to  his  friends,  illuminated  by  Mrs.  Pepper's 
suspicions  ?  We  think  he  did  not  appear  one  whit 
the  worse.      Indeed,  he  came  out  of  it,  if  anything, 


250   LETTING  THE  CAT  OUT  OF  THE  BAG. 

rather  the  better.  In  the  first  place,  everybody 
knows  that  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  excite  prejudice 
against  a  modest,  manly  young  fellow  like  Joe, 
particularly  in  the  minds  of  his  friends.  And  in 
this  respect  Mrs.  Pepper  had  overshot  the  mark. 
It  brought  Mrs.  Aston  to  his  defense.  She  de- 
clared that  he  had  been  badly  treated,  and  that  it 
would  be  most  ungenerous  to  place  him  under  any 
proscription  on  account  of  a  mere  surmise.  She 
was  well  aware  of  Mrs.  Pepper's  talent  for  hatch- 
ing up  things  ;  and  both  she  and  Mr.  Aston  were 
well  convinced  that  this  thing  had  been  hatched 
up.  Joe  himself,  Mrs.  Aston  said,  could  he  know 
what  had  passed  that  evening,  would  be  chagrined 
and  disturbed  beyond  measure. 

So  it  was  decided  that  the  Aston  mansion  should 
not  be  closed  against  Joe,  as  Mrs.  Pepper  desired. 
His  friends  believed  him  to  be  honest  and  open 
as  the  day ;  too  chivalrous  in  his  relations  to  them 
to  ever  indulge  a  thought  that  he  had  the  right  to 
step  in,  simply  because  they  had  invited  him  to 
their  house,  and  attempt  to  woo  Katie.  In  a  word, 
they  felt  that  they  could  trust  Joe  to  be  no  more 
than  Katie's  friend.  As  it  turned  out,  Mrs.  Pep- 
per, in  letting  the  cat  out  of  the  bag,  which  Joe 
had  so  much  feared,  got  all  the  scratches  herself. 

And  this  was  the  state  of  things  when  Mr. 
Aston  started  for  the  Daybreak,  commissioned  to 
bring  back  to  the  Celeste  with  him  Joe  Bently. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING. 

JOE  was  reclining  in  Captain  Farradale's  easy 
chair,  enduring  the  trial  of  his  enforced  seclu- 
sion and  inactivity  as  best  he  could,  when  Dicky 
Dawson  returned  from  the  trip  ashore.  He  had 
become  more  unhappy  in  his  mind  than  ever,  and 
was  now  blaming  himself  for  what  he  had  scarcely 
thought  of  before.  For  several  days  the  Day- 
break had  been  anchored  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  the  Celeste,  but  he  had  permitted  no  word  to 
be  sent  his  friends.  What  would  they  think  of 
such  negligence  on  the  part  of  one  who  had  so 
recently  enjoyed  their  hospitality?  He  could  not, 
of  course,  discharge  his  social  debt  by  calling  upon 
them,  but  he  might  at  least  have  sent  his  regrets. 
This  he  had  not  done,  and  he  was  now  depressed 
by  the  thought  that  they  would  consider  his  disre- 
gard of  a  plain  social  duty  inexcusable.  Whatever 
his  standing  with  the  Astons  mi^ht  be,  he  rea- 
soned,  it  could  have  done  no  harm  to  have  sent 
them  some  information  concerning  himself.  If 
^51 


252  THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING. 

for  no  other  reason,  it  would  have  relieved  the 
awkwardness  of  the  situation. 

As  he  had  received  no  word  from  the  Celeste, 
his  surmises  concerning  Mrs.  Pepper  had  been 
greatly  strengthened.  He  could  not  rid  himself 
of  the  feeling  that,  through  her  advice,  he  had 
been  quietly  dropped.  If  it  were  not  so,  he  ar- 
gued, Mr.  Aston  would  have  taken  some  little 
trouble  before  now  to  ascertain  what  had  beeome 
of  him.  In  spite  of  all  he  could  do,  this  thought 
tormented  him  :  the  old  cordial  relations  had 
come  to  an  end. 

And  for  this  he  did  not  blame  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Aston.  They  would,  he  believed,  rigorously  apply 
the  principle  of  selection  to  Katie's  friendships, 
and  he  must  be  a  rare  young  man  indeed  who 
could  aspire  to  a  permanent  place  among  her 
friends.  Now  that  he  was  successfully  launched 
upon  an  honorable  profession,  what  more  could  he 
expect  from  them  ?  As  they  had  done  in  his  case, 
so,  from  their  great  generosity  of  nature,  would 
they  do  in  that  of  some  other.  They  would  select 
some  more  deserving  boy  than  he  had  been,  to 
whom  they  would  give  a  lift  in  life,  and  let  him, 
with  their  best  wishes,  go  his  way. 

Yet  poor  Joe,  with  much  sadness  of  heart, 
wished  that  Mrs.  Pepper's  suspicions  had  not 
been  interposed  between  him  and  the  Astons. 
How  glad  he  would  have  been  to  have  managed 


THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING.  253 

this  matter  himself ;  to  have  trimmed  his  own 
sails  to  suit  the  conditions  and  circumstances  of 
this  friendship. 

And  for  this  we  must  not  think  Joe  over-sensi- 
tive or  too  much  given  to  self-disparagement.  It 
was  his  exalted  reverence  and  love  for  his  friends, 
the  innate  chivalry  of  his  nature,  which  led  him  to 
perceive  the  delicacy  of  his  relations  to  them,  and 
to  take  what  he  conceived  to  be  their  side  of  the 
case.  His  ideas  were  unusually  elevated  on  the 
subject,  even  though  he  felt  morbid  over  it. 

Another  thing  about  it,  too,  was  his  discovery 
that  no  amount  of  repression  he  might  bring  to 
bear  upon  his  thoughts  and  feelings,  could  make 
him  indifferent  toward  Katie.  His  efforts  to  do 
so  —  and  they  had  been  continuous  —  were  a  good 
deal  like  throwing  chips  and  grass  into  a  spring 
with  the  expectation  of  quenching  it.  In  spite  of 
all  he  could  do,  the  spring  would  keep  bubbling 
up.  His  only  hope  now  was,  that  he  might  keep 
the  spring  so  well  hidden  that  nobody  would  know 
of  its  existence  but  himself.  Yet  the  spectre  of 
Mrs.  Pepper  would  not  down  ;  she  had  penetrated 
his  secret ;  she  had  certainly  got  a  peep  at  that 
spring  ;  at  which  thought  Joe  inwardly  groaned. 

This  was  about  the  state  of  Joe's  mind  when 
Dicky  Dawson,  shortly  after  his  arrival  with  the 
captain,  paid  him  a  visit  in  the  cabin.  Ever  since 
the  accident,   Dawson  had  been  permitted  to  do 


2  54  THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING. 

any  little  thing  for  Joe's  comfort  he  saw  fit,  and 
he  had  come  almost  to  fill  the  place  of  a  servant. 
Nothing  delighted  him  so  much  as  to  attend  Joe. 
Indeed,  so  anxious  was  he  to  do  little  offices  for 
him,  that  he  had  persuaded  the  cabin  boy  to  yield 
a  number  of  his  prerogatives  in  his  favor.  Joe 
humored  his  old  friend  all  he  could,  and  contrived 
to  have  some  little  service  for  him  every  day,  and 
Dawson's  head  was  up  in  the  clouds. 

On  this  occasion  he  cared  for  the  gig,  and  waited 
round  until  Captain  Farradale  left  the  cabin  and 
came  out  upon  the  quarter  deck.  He  then  pre- 
sented himself  before  the  orderly  at  the  cabin  door, 
and  peremptorily  demanded  admission.  Some- 
thing weighty  was  on  his  mind,  the  nature  of 
which  we  may  easily  guess.  Sidling  into  Joe's 
darkened  apartment,  without  waiting,  as  he  gen- 
erally did,  for  him  to  have  the  first  word,  he  be- 
gan :  "  I  begs  pardon,  sir,  but  you  has  friends  in 
Bar  Harbor." 

"How's  that?  "  said  Joe  with  a  start,  trying  to 
read  the  expression  of  Dawson's  countenance  in 
the  dim  light. 

"I  seen  'em,  sir.  They  b'longs  to  that  fine, 
hansom'  yacht  there,  anchored  off  the  Round 
Porcupine." 

"You  mean  Mr.  Aston,  I  suppose?  He's  here 
in  the  Celeste." 

"No;  it  ain't  no  man,  sir.    They's  two  as  pooty 


THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING.  255 

young  gals  as  I  ever  seed  in  any  country.  They 
run  ag'in  the  Olga  and  knocked  the  arrer  offen 
their  gig." 

The  "  Olga  "  was  the  name  of  Captain  Farra- 
dale's  gig. 

"  How  do  you  know  they  are  my  friends  ?  "  Joe 
asked.  "There's  only  one  young  lady  here  that  I 
know." 

"They  axed  arter  yer,  sir." 

"Oh  !  did  they?"  inquired  Joe,  brightening  up. 

"  Leastways,  the  tall  one  axed  arter  Mr.  Edger- 
ton  ;  an'  the  little  one,"  added  Dawson  with  quaint 
emphasis,  "axed  arter  you." 

"Maud  Edgerton  !  "  said  Joe,  in  surprise.  "Is 
she  here  ? " 

"  They  didn't  give  no  names.  But  they  appears 
to  know  a  good  deal  about  you,  sir." 

"  You  of  course  told  them  that  I  was  laid  up 
on  board  ship  ? "  said  Joe,  after  drawing  from 
Dawson  a  more  circumstantial  account  of  his 
meeting  with  the  young  ladies. 

"  I  tells  'em  the  whole  story,  sir." 

Joe  was  minded  to  inquire  if  they  evinced  any 
particular  solicitude  for  him  in  his  misfortune,  but 
he  checked  the  impulse. 

"They  thinks  a  deal  o'  you,  sir,"  Dawson  went 
on.  "  When  I  says  to  'em  that  you  was  very  bad, 
they  jest  got  as  white  as  a  scrubbed  hammock 
cloth,  an'  their  chins  dropped  like  heavin'  a  lead. 


256  THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING. 

They  must  think  a  powerful  heap  o'  you,  sir.  Be 
they  relations  o'  yourn  ?  " 

Joe  informed  Dawson  most  cheerfully  that  they 
were  not  relatives  of  his.  He  didn't  care  now 
how  inquisitive  Dawson  might  become,  though  his 
inquisitiveness  was  only  apparent.  Such  a  com- 
plete revulsion  of  feeling  Joe  had  never  before 
experienced  in  so  short  a  time.  He  might  have 
embraced  Dawson  if  the  bandages  on  his  head 
would  not  have  been  imperilled  thereby.  He 
would  send  a  note  to  the  Celeste  that  very  after- 
noon, and  Dawson  should  be  the  bearer. 

"But,  says  I  to  'em,  sir,"  continued  Dawson, 
" '  it  ain't  his  mashed  head  an'  his  blinted  eyes  as 
breaks  him  up  so  '  "  — 

"What ! "  said  Joe,  in  a  faint  voice,  holding  his 
breath  in  fear  of  what  was  coming. 

"'He's  worritted  about  somethin','  says  I.  I 
hopes,  sir,  I  wasn't  givin'  nothin'  away,"  he  added, 
in  a  tone  of  humble  apology,  as  he  noticed  the 
change  that  had  come  over  Joe. 

"  Did  you  say  that  ?  "  said  Joe,  sinking  back  into 
his  chair  with  a  look  of  extreme  mortification 

Dawson  was  so  greatly  distressed  that  he  could 
not  answer.      He  hung  his  head  quite  pitifully. 

"And  did  she  say  anything?"  asked  Joe,  after 
a  silence  of  a  full  minute. 

"She  says  as  it  must  be  his  mother  as  he's  in 
trouble  about." 


THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING.  257 

"Oh!"  said  Joe,  a  sigh  of  relief  escaping  him. 
"  Did  you  say  any  more  ?  " 

"I  only  says,  sir,  'there  ain't  no  mother  in  this 
business.'  I's  very  sorry,  sir ;  I  sees  I  done 
wrong,"  and  Dawson  showed  tenfold  more  peni- 
tence than  Joe  had  ever  seen  him  manifest  before. 

Joe  could  not  get  angry  with  his  old  friend,  but 
it  seemed  that  everything  was  conspiring  against 
him.  This  was  a  tumble  to  his  pride  that  he  had 
not  anticipated  ;  and  it  had  been  partly  his  own 
fault.  In  the  interview  Dawson  had  referred  to 
at  the  landing,  Joe  had  been  at  no  pains  to  conceal 
the  fact  that  something  weighed  heavily  on  his 
mind,  though  of  what  that  something  was  he  had 
given  no  intimation.  And  Dawson  had  now  made 
a  clean  breast  of  it  to  Katie,  the  last  one  in  the 
world  whom  he  would  have  know  anything  about 
it.  No  doubt  Mrs.  Pepper  had  sought  to  prejudice 
her  against  him  as  well  as  her  parents,  and  she 
would  be  quick  to  infer  that  this  trouble  Dawson 
had  revealed  related  to  herself.  And  he  feared, 
too,  that  Dawson  had  told  even  more  than  he  ad- 
mitted. He  had  permitted  him  to  come  perilously 
near  the  edge  of  his  secret ;  but  had  it  been  an 
Eastern  dervis  with  whom  he  had  conversed,  he 
would  as  soon  have  expected  the  result  to  reach 
Katie's  ears  as  in  the  case  of  Dawson.  "  Well, 
Dawson,"  said  he  at  last,  touched  by  the  old  man's 
dejection,  "don't  think   about    it    anymore.      It's 


258  THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING. 

scarcely  worth  mentioning.  It  was  foolish  of  me 
to  show  any  feeling.  It  was  only  wounded  pride, 
after  all ;  and  such  wounds  do  us  good."  A  little 
further  talk  and  Dawson  left  the  cabin. 

Joe  was  not  permitted  to  remain  long  by  him- 
self. He  had  just  entered  upon  the  contemplation 
of  this  new  phase  of  the  difficulty,  when  Mr. 
Aston's  voice  greeted  him  upon  the  quarter  deck. 
This  gentleman  had,  meanwhile,  reached  the  Day- 
break, and  was  explaining  the  purpose  of  his  visit 
to  Captain  Farradale.  Joe  heard  him  tell  the  cap- 
tain that  young  Bently  was  a  friend  of  his  family  — 
a  kind  of  protege  of  his  (how  Joe  hated  that  word 
now)  —  and  that  the  ladies  of  the  Celeste  would 
never  forgive  him  for  having  neglected  to  hunt 
him  up.  "I  hope,  sir,"  he  went  on,  "his  accident 
is  not  of  a  very  serious  nature." 

But  by  this  time  they  had  entered  the  cabin, 
and  a  moment  later  Mr.  Aston  stood  in  Joe's  pres- 
ence. "  My  dear  fellow  !  "  he  exclaimed  in  a  tone 
of  genuine  sympathy,  "  why  have  you  kept  this 
from  us  ?  " 

The  tears  sprang  to  Joe's  eyes.  In  truth,  he 
was  so  moved  by  Mr.  Aston's  kindness,  that  he 
could  not  speak  a  word.  So  wrought  up  had  he 
been  over  his  friends'  supposed  change  of  feelings 
toward  him,  that  this  unexpected  turn  of  affairs 
quite  overpowered  him.  It  flashed  upon  him  that 
perhaps  Mrs.  Pepper  had  not  done  as  he  had  con- 


THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBRLJNG.  259 

jectured,  after  all ;  but  he  entertained  this  idea 
only  for  an  instant. 

"  I  told  him,"  said  Captain  Farradale,  answer- 
ing for  Joe,  "that  he  ought  to  send  you  word  about 
himself.  He's  afraid  of  those  patches  on  his  head. 
But  wounds  received  in  battle,  you  know,"  he 
added,  good-humoredly,  "  are  not  to  be  ashamed 
of." 

Joe  managed  at  last  to  stammer  out  some  ex- 
cuse or  other  for  not  letting  his  friends  know  his 
condition,  and  was  glad  that  his  portion  of  the 
cabin  was  dark  enough  to  hide  his  confusion. 

"I  have  come,"  said  Mr.  Aston,  after  drawing 
from  Joe  an  unwilling  and  succinct  account  of  the 
torpedo  expedition,  several  omissions  meanwhile 
being  supplied  by  Captain  Farradale ;  "  I  have 
come,"  he  repeated,  "with  your  captain's  permis- 
sion, to  take  you  back  with  me  to  the  Celeste. 
You  can  be  moved,  I  see ;  and  Mrs.  Aston  and 
Katie  insist  that  you  need  a  change.  We  have  to 
let  the  women  folks  have  their  way,  you  know," 
he  added  laughingly. 

"  Oh  !  certainly,"  said  Captain  Farradale.  "  I 
will  let  him  go  with  pleasure.  He  finds  it  very 
stupid  shut  up  here  away  from  his  messmates." 

Captain  Farradale's  tone  implied  that  Joe  had 
suffered  real  privation  in  being  taken  from  the 
choleric  Hubbins,  the  tormenting  Coverly,  and  the 
other  members  of  the  mess,  including  the  Aztec. 


260  THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING. 

The  captain  had  not  once  thought  of  taking  any 
credit  to  himself  for  giving  up  half  of  his  cabin 
to  a  wounded  cadet,  and  using  every  means  in  his 
power  for  that  cadet's  comfort  and  diversion.  But 
this  was  Captain  Farradale.  Joe  was  not  the  first 
cadet  who  had  realized  substantial  benefit  from  his 
goodness  of  heart. 

What  could  Joe  do?  His  better  judgment  told 
him  that  he  ought  not  to  go  to  the  Celeste.  If 
the  invitation  had  only  been  given  by  note  or  by 
letter,  he  could  have  declined  with  good  grace ; 
but  here  was  Mr.  Aston  right  before  him,  talking 
to  him  in  the  cheeriest  manner,  telling  him  how 
soon  he  would  be  fully  restored  on  board  his  pleas- 
ant yacht.  And  Captain  Farradale,  too,  had  taken 
sides  with  Mr.  Aston,  and  had  promptly  offered 
him  a  week's  leave  to  begin  with.  Is  it  any  won- 
der Joe's  spirits  began  to  rise,  and  that  he  thought 
it  would  be  a  nice  thing,  after  all,  to  go  back  with 
Mr.  Aston  ? 

"The  yacht's  very  quiet,"  resumed  Mr.  Aston, 
after  a  moment's  digression  with  Captain  Farra- 
dale upon  the  advantage  a  breakwater  would  be  to 
Bar  Harbor.  "There  are  only  two  besides  our- 
selves—  Mrs.  Pepper  and  Miss  Edgerton,  Katie's 
friend.  You've  met  both  of  them  before.  It 
won't  be  like  going  among  entire  strangers,  you 
know." 

If  the  young  ladies'   chins,   according  to  Daw- 


THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING.  26l 

son's  account,  had  dropped  like  heaving  a  lead, 
Joe's  chin  now  dropped  like  heaving  an  anchor. 

"Please,  sir,"  he  began,  greatly  embarrassed, 
"I  think  I'd  better  not  go.  It  will  be  giving  you 
unnecessary  trouble.  Besides,  my  eyes  are  haraly 
well  enough.  It  wouldn't  be  prudent.  I  thank 
you  very  much,  sir  ;  but  it  will  be  better  for  me 
not  to  leave  the  ship." 

Mr.  Aston  now  warmly  urged  Joe  to  accompany 
him  back  to  the  yacht.  Joe's  reason  for  not  going 
was  too  transparent.  Mr.  Aston  saw  well  enough 
that  he  was  holding  back  from  fear  or  dislike  of 
Mrs.  Pepper,  he  didn't  know  which.  He  of  course 
knew  nothing  of  Joe's  special  difficulty  in  the  case 
of  that  lady  ;  but  he  knew  she  had  not  been 
friendly,  and  that  she  was  not  friendly,  to  the 
cadet,  the  reason  for  which  we  have  already  seen. 
However,  he  was  determined  that  Joe  should  be- 
come their  guest. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston 
felt  under  the  deepest  obligation  to  Joe.  They 
knew  the  little  they  could  do  for  his  material  wel- 
fare was  insignificant  compared  with  the  real  debt 
they  owed  him.  Through  his  bravery  when  a  mere 
boy,  Katie's  life  had  been  saved,  and  they  felt  that 
that  act  alone  gave  him  the  strongest  claim  upon 
their  consideration  and  friendship.  The  least  they 
could  do  was  to  make  him  heartily  welcome  at 
their  home.      In  this  particular  instance  he  needed 


262  THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING. 

their  care,  and  it  was  a  good  opportunity  for  them 
to  discharge  some  little  of  their  debt  to  him. 

The  terrible  risk  which  Mrs.  Pepper  thought 
would  be  incurred  by  having  Joe  around  had  given 
them  no  concern.  Katie  wasn't  an  innocent  little 
plum,  waiting  to  be  stolen  from  them  by  any 
young  fellow  in  brass  buttons  who  might  come 
along  ;  and  they  knew  that  Joe  Bently  had  no  idea 
that  she  was.  They  felt,  or  would  have  felt  had 
they  given  it  a  thought,  that  if  Katie  had  hung 
all  ready  to  drop  right  into  Joe's  hand,  under  the 
circumstances,  he  would  not  have  stretched  it  out 
to  receive  her. 

The  upshot  of  it  all  was,  Joe  had  to  go  on  board 
the  Celeste ;  but  he  did  not  return  with  Mr. 
Aston.  It  was  hard  work  to  bring  himself  to  the 
point  of  going,  but  how  could  he  help  it  ?  The 
doctor  was  sent  for,  and  he  said  that  undoubtedly 
the  change  would  do  him  good ;  the  captain 
agreed  with  the  doctor  ;  and  the  invitation  was  of 
such  a  nature  that  he  couldn't  help  accepting  it. 
There  were  some  things  about  it  that  he  could  not 
at  all  understand  ;  but  it  made  his  head  ache  to 
try  to  understand  anything  now,  so  he  gave  up 
trying,  and  said  he  would  be  happy  to  go.  And  the 
next  day,  before  twelve  o'clock  had  been  made  on 
board  the  Daybreak,  he  was  delivered  bag  and 
baggage  to  his  friends  in  the  Celeste.  Dicky 
Dawson  conveyed  him  alongside  in  the  captain's 


THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING.  263 

gig.  Dawson  was  in  high  spirits,  for  he  was  fascin- 
ated with  the  yacht  and  everything  appertaining 
to  her.  He  thought  his  young  friend  would  soon 
"mend  with  them  pooty  young  gals  round."  "If 
I  busted  Mr.  Bently  all  up  in  his  mind,"  he  chuck- 
led to  himself,  "they'll  fix  'im  up  in  no  time. 
These  navy  doctors  is  good  enough,"  he  added, 
"  but  they  ain't  like  wimmin  ;  wimmin  is  so  soothin' 
an'  delecit  in  their  ways." 

To  be  sure,  Joe  felt  extremely  awkward  and  ill 
at  ease  at  first.  He  suffered  much  from  self- 
consciousness,  and  the  change  for  the  first  few 
days  seemed  to  have  done  him  more  harm  than 
good.  During  most  of  that  time  he  was  confined 
to  his  state-room.  On  the  several  occasions  he 
ventured  out  of  it,  Mrs.  Aston  darkened  the  cabin 
to  suit  the  condition  of  his  eyes,  but  he  was  so 
oppressed  by  the  fear  that  he  was  giving  trouble 
that  he  soon  withdrew  to  his  own  quarters.  He 
was  painfully  conscious  of  his  appearance,  too. 
He  thought  he  must  be  sorely  disfigured,  and  of 
all  cadets  in  affliction  the  least  presentable.  But 
his  weak  and  white  and  wan  appearance  went 
straight  to  the  sympathies  of  everybody  ;  at  least 
everybody  but  Mrs.  Pepper.  Upon  her  it  seemed 
to  make  but  little  impression.  At  first,  when  he 
sat  in  the  cabin,  if  the  young  ladies  happened  to 
glance  at  him  he  thought  it  must  be  to  see  if  the 
patches  on  his  head  had  improved  any  since  their 


264  THE    SPRING    KEEPS   BUBBLING. 

last  look ;  and  if  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston  chanced  to 
be  away  making  calls  in  the  town  it  was  torture 
indeed  to  be  left  to  their  care. 

Joe  did  not  know  what  an  object  of  tender 
interest  a  sick  or  wounded  cadet  may  become, 
especially  if  his  wounds  be  the  wounds  of  valor. 
Cupid  himself  has  been  known  to  spring  full 
fledged  from  a  foot  thus  wounded.  And  to  one 
less  unsophisticated  than  Joe  it  might  have  oc- 
curred that  nothing  in  the  world  could  be  better 
than  a  torpedo  to  blow  a  young  man  right  into  the 
heart  of  a  sympathetic  girl. 

But  with  Mrs.  Pepper  he  did  not  get  on  at  all. 
From  the  first,  he  could  see  that  he  was  a  most 
unwelcome  guest  to  her.  She  was  civil  enough  to 
him,  but  distant  and  cold.  Her  unfriendliness 
made  him,  during  the  first  of  his  visit,  very  uncom- 
fortable if  not  unhappy.  When  she  condescended 
to  address  him,  at  the  very  first,  he  could  scarcely 
reply  to  her.  He  had  to  see  her  several  times,  or 
rather  hear  her,  for  his  eyes  were  too  weak  to  bear 
the  peculiar  light  that  invested  her  person,  before 
he  recovered  his  full  powers  of  speech.  He  had  a 
feeling  that  she  regarded  him  as  just  ripe  for 
piracy ;  that  he  was  there  to  forcibly  carry  off 
Katie  if  he  could  not  do  it  otherwise.  And  the 
question  sometimes  arose  in  his  mind  why  it  was 
that  in  her  presence  he  was  so  often  exercised  by 
a  desire  to  become  a  young  pirate.      He  wickedly 


THE  SPRING  KEEPS  BUBBLING.       265 

thought  if  he  was  one,  the  first  thing  he  would  do 
would  be  to  board  the  Celeste,  abduct  Mrs.  Pepper 
and  carry  her  off  to  some  island  where  she  couldn't 
get  away  ;  provide  her  with  good  attendance  and 
plenty  of  fruit,  and  leave  her  to  her  own  resources 
for  completing  a  happy  existence.  But  little  by 
little  his  eyes  grew  accustomed  to  the  vision  of 
Mrs.  Pepper,  so  that  he  could  look  upon  her  with- 
out much  blinking ;  and  he  came  at  last  to  feel 
that  the  worst  he  would  do  to  her  would  be  to  send 
her  on  a  long  visit  to  some  country  out  of  the 
postal  union. 

Meanwhile  he  wrote  Schopy  a  note.  He  praised 
his  friends  warmly,  but  he  said  it  was  hard  to  be 
among  so  many  women.  "The  fact  is,  Schopy," 
he  said,  "  they  are  making  a  woman  of  me.  The 
best  thing  for  a  wounded  cadet  to  do  is  to  stick  it 
out  and  get  well  on  board  ship,  or  go  to  a  hospital. 
When  Harry  gets  back,  send  him  right  over  to  see 
his  cousin.  Come  yourself.  I  can't  stand  this 
thing  alone." 

But  this  note  was  written  on  one  of  his  homesick 
days.  He  did  "stand"  it  alone,  and  he  stood  it 
very  well.  When  he  began  to  mend  never  did 
cadet  improve  so  rapidly  as  he. 

And  how  did  he  get  on  with  Katie  ?  Of  course 
he  saw  a  great  deal  of  her.  When  he  had  so  far 
recovered  as  to  be  able  to  go  about  the  yacht  she 
accompanied  him,  and  greatly  enjoyed  his   enthu- 


266  THE    SPRING    KEEPS    BUBBLING. 

siasm  over  the  beautiful  Celeste.  She  read  to  him, 
played  for  him,  and  was  very  watchful  for  his  com- 
fort. She  planned  wonderful  excursions  for  them 
all  when  Ned  Brentford  should  come  to  Bar  Har- 
bor (Brentford  had  changed  his  mind  now  that 
the  Daybreak  had  arrived,  and  was  coming  earlier), 
and  in  no  end  of  little  ways  she  tried  to  make  him 
feel  at  home  and  to  thoroughly  enjoy  himself. 
But  in  it  all  he  could  not  see  that  she  had  any  par- 
ticular interest  in  him  ;  any  interest  beyoud  that 
which  any  kind-hearted,  impulsive  young  lady  would 
feel  for  a  friend  of  her  girlhood. 

But  Joe  congratulated  himself  over  the  happy 
turn  things  had  taken.  Was  not  Mrs.  Pepper  put 
to  rout ;  were  not  the  Astons  as  warmly  his  friends 
as  ever ;  did  he  not  stand  on  his  old  ground  with 
them  ?  And  how  carefully  and  well  he  would 
maintain  his  recovered  standing;  recovered,  at 
least,  so  far  as  his  own  feelings  were  concerned. 
His  friends  should  never  have  reason  to  regret 
the  confidence  they  reposed  in  him.  Mrs.  Pep- 
per's suspicions  should  end  in  mere  smoke. 

But  why  would  that  little  spring  keep  all  the 
time  bubbling  ?  Why  would  it  not  fill  up  and 
cease  altogether,  quenched  by  the  material  he 
was  continually  casting  into  it  ?  No,  in  spite  of 
all  he  could  do,  the  spring  would  keep  bubbling. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


MRS.      PEPPER  S     SCHEME. 


BAR  HARBOR  !  Queen  of  watering  places  ! 
the  supreme  delight  of  the  Atlantic  coast ! 
Far  and  wide  may  we  wander  and  find  less  delight- 
someness  of  sea  and  shore.  We  may  tax  our 
ingenuity  for  fine  epithets  and  phrases  with  which 
to  depict  scenes  not  comparable  to  those  of  this 
lovely  resort. 

For  have  we  not  here  a  bay  the  most  beautiful 
from  Maine  to  Florida?  Mountains  to  be  men- 
tioned in  the  same  breath  with  the  hills  of  Sor- 
rento ?  Mountains,  indeed,  quite  as  individual  and 
distinctive  as  the  Sugar  Loaf  and  Corcovado  at  Rio 
Janeiro,  rivaling  in  their  aggregate  strangeness 
and  sublimity  the  famous  view  which  greets  the 
traveler  from  the  charming  heights  surrounding 
the  Brazilian  capital  ? 

Then,  too,  the  drives !  To  Schooner  Head, 
Otter  Cliffs,  the  Ovens,  Northeast  Harbor,  the 
twenty-two-mile  drive,  the  "around  the  island  trip." 
And  the  walks  !  Along  the  shadow-haunted  paths 
of  Duck  Brook,  leading,  as  it  seems,  at  every  turn 
267 


268  mrs.  pepper's  scheme. 

to  some  sybil's  grotto ;  through  wild  glens  and 
up  mountain  gorges,  making  other  famous  mount- 
ain-sides tame  as  sand-hills  by  way  of  comparison. 
And,  if  this  were  not  enough,  where,  this  side  of 
Mars,  could  be  found  such  indentations  of  coast, 
such  tunnelling  and  booming  of  the  sea,  such 
clefts  in  rocks,  such  echo-music  ? 

At  least,  such  would  have  been  the  thoughts  of 
our  young  people,  Katie  and  Maud,  Ned  Brentford, 
Harry  and  Joe,  had  they  devoted  any  particular 
attention  to  scenic  Bar  Harbor.  However,  three 
weeks  later  than  the  incidents  recorded  in  the  last 
chapter,  they  had  opportunity  to  ransack  the  island 
of  Mt.  Desert  to  their  hearts'  content ;  thus  to 
acquire  as  practical  a  knowledge  of  the  attractions 
which  draw  so  many  thousands  every  summer  to 
its  shores,  as  they  might  desire.  But,  before  we 
can  touch  upon  their  doings  in  this  delectable 
spot,  our  story  must  be  resumed  at  about  the 
same  point  where  its  thread  was  dropped. 

Joe's  stay  on  board  the  Celeste  was  destined  to 
be  cut  short.  It  happened  in  this  way.  He  had 
been  but  little  more  than  a  week  with  his  friends, 
when  trouble  broke  out  between  some  United 
States  and  Dominion  fishermen,  and  the  presence 
of  a  man-of-war  was  required  at  a  point  farther 
east.  The  Daybreak  was  therefore  ordered  by 
telegram  from  Washington  to  proceed  immediately 
to  Eastport.      Not  knowing  how  long  he  might  be 


MRS.     PEPPER'S    SCHEME.  269 

detained,  Captain  Farradale  deemed  it  necessary 
to  recall  Joe,  and  he  was  directed  to  rejoin  his  ship 
at  once. 

On  the  whole,  Joe  perhaps  was  not  sorry  for 
this  occurrence.  He  was  now  so  far  advanced  on 
the  road  to  recovery,  thanks  to  the  genial  compan- 
ionship and  faithful  care  of  his  friends,  that  he 
felt  he  ought  not  longer  to  be  a  burden  to  them  ; 
for  he  did  feel  that  he  was  nothing  else  than  a 
burden  to  them.  Joe  could  take  any  amount  of 
trouble  for  other  people,  but  he  could  not  bear  to 
have  other  people  take  trouble  for  him.  He  was 
also  anxious  to  resume  his  duties.  Nothing  but 
absolute  disability  could  have  kept  him  out  of  his 
ship  at  such  a  time.  No  doubt  the  Daybreak's 
service  would  be  of  an  highly  interesting,  if  not 
exciting  nature,  and  what  could  be  better  than 
being  in  the  midst  of  it  ? 

Then  he  felt  it  was  an  easy  way  of  getting  out 
of  the  yacht.  While  he  was  quite  happy  in  the 
reflection  that  he  still  held  his  old  place  in  the 
esteem  of  his  friends,  it  seemed  to  him  that  this 
in  itself  should  make  him  more  guarded  in  his 
intercourse  with  Katie.  Indeed,  it  appeared  to 
him  that  he  ought  to  see  as  little  of  her  as  possi- 
ble. He  had  become  so  accustomed  to  Mrs.  Pep- 
per's vigilant  eye  that  she  troubled  him  very  little 
now.  But,  everything  considered,  he  thought  the 
time  had  come  for  him  to  be  gone.      He  had  even 


27O  MRS.     PEPPER  S    SCHEME. 

been  hoping  that  the  Daybreak  might  be  ordered 
on  a  foreign  cruise.  Then  distance  would  disen- 
chant him  with  Katie  ;  would  enable  him  to  dis- 
possess himself  of  every  feeling  toward  her  but 
that  of  a  warm  and  grateful  friendship.  And 
meanwhile,  if  there  were  anything  between  Katie 
and  Ned,  concerning  which  his  mind  was  slightly 
wavering,  before  he  met  them  again,  all  would 
have  been  settled. 

Joe  was  still  ignorant  of  Miss  Maud's  engage- 
ment to  Ned.  It  happened,  however,  that  two  or 
three  days  before  the  Daybreak  sailed,  drawn  by 
the  cordiality  of  the  Astons  and  the  charms  of  his 
lady-love,  Ned  had  suddenly  put  in  an  appearance 
at  Bar  Harbor.  And  his  coming  had  the  effect  of 
greatly  mystifying  Joe.  He  did  not  seem  to 
recognize  the  headlands  of  that  happy  coast  where 
he  had  pictured  Ned  and  Katie  wandering  hand 
in  hand  together,  in  what  he  observed  of  them 
now,  but  on  the  whole,  he  maintained  his  old  the- 
ory regarding  them. 

It  struck  him  that  Brentford  was  exceedingly 
fond  of  Miss  Maud's  society,  but  he  was  by  no 
means  averse  to  Katie's.  He  thought  it  remark- 
ably amiable  in  Katie  to  permit  her  friend  to  mo- 
nopolize the  one  in  whom  her  deepest  interest  cen- 
tered ;  but  he  accounted  for  this  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  her  guests,  and  she  wanted  them 
to   have   a   good   time.       Still   it   was    a  phase   of 


MRS.    PEPPER  S    SCHEME.  2? I 

human  nature  he  was  not  altogether  familiar  with. 
But  Katie's  human  nature  was  so  different  from 
that  of  ordinary  mortals.  He  never  once  thought 
that  he  himself  was  a  guest  as  well  as  Brentford ; 
and  that  it  seemed  never  to  have  occurred  to  Katie 
that  Maud's  society  might  be  of  peculiar  interest 
to  him.  He  might  have  asked  himself  why  did 
not  she  want  him  to  have  a  good  time,  too,  in  the 
same  way.  The  fact  is,  things  looked  strange  to 
him  ;  his  ideas  of  the  whole  affair  had  gotten  into 
a  good  deal  of  a  jumble.  But  when  Joe  took  a 
position,  he  did  not  like  to  be  driven  from  it.  So 
he  went  on  putting  his  observations  together, 
as  it  were,  according  to  preconceived  patterns ; 
and  while  he  felt  that  he  had  something  quite  solid 
to  stand  upon,  he  had  to  admit  that  it  was  a  queer 
kind  of  mosaic. 

When,  however,  he  came  to  leave  the  yacht,  he 
was  not  quite  so  anxious  to  go  on  that  foreign 
cruise ;  and  he  also  wished  that  that  telegram  had 
been  delayed  another  week.  For  with  the  advent 
of  Brentford  (and  Harry,  too,  who,  as  Maud's  cousin 
and  Joe's  friend,  received  a  hearty  welcome  on 
board  the  Celeste),  Mt.  Desert  had  begun  to  put 
on  a  different  aspect  to  him.  He  was  quite 
cheered,  as  he  stepped  over  the  yacht's  side,  by  a 
remark  of  Mr.  Aston  that  the  trouble  was  only  a 
codfish  flurry. 

"It  will  shortly  blow  over,"  said  he,  "and  you'll 


272  MRS.     PEPPER  S    SCHEME. 

soon  be  back  again  in  your  old  berth."  Which 
prophecy,  indeed,  came  true  ;  it  did  soon  blow  over, 
and  in  three  weeks  time  the  Daybreak  was  back 
again  in  her  old  berth  alongside  the  Celeste,  with 
instructions  to  lie  at  Bar  Harbor  —  a  sufficiently 
contiguous  point  to  Canadian  waters  —  until  further 
orders. 

The  horrors  of  this  herring  war  will  have  no 
charm  for  the  reader.  No  benefit  would  be  de- 
rived from  a  knowledge  of  the  unpleasant  details 
attendant  on  the  purchase  of  bait.  We  will  there- 
fore remain  at  Bar  Harbor,  amusing  ourselves  as 
best  we  can  until  Joe's  return.  And  the  time  may 
as  weii  be  spent  on  board  the  yacht ;  for  we  shall 
find  a  welcome  there  ;  at  least,  from  everybody  but 
Mrs.  Pepper.  She,  however,  is  sick  and  tired  of 
men-of-war,  and  yachts  as  well. 

"  I  think  it's  too  bad,"  said  Katie  at  dinner,  on 
the  evening  of  the  day  Joe  sailed,  "that  the  Day- 
break's been  ordered  away." 

"Why  so?"  inquired  Mr.  Aston. 

"  Because  it  breaks  up  our  buckboard  drive ; 
and  spoils  everything." 

A  buckboard  drive  to  Somesville  was  to  have 
celebrated  Joe's  recovery. 

"Can't  you  go  just  as  well  without  Bently  and 
Edgerton  ? "  asked  Mr.  Aston,  who  knew  the 
young  people's  disappointment  over  the  breaking 
up  of  the  party. 


MRS.    PEPPER'S    SCHEME.  2/3 

"What's  a  buckboard  with  only  three  on  it?" 
said  Katie,  whose  heart  had  been  set  on  hiring 
the  most  monstrous  buckboard  in  Bar  Harbor  for 
the  occasion. 

"  Some  things  do  go  off  better  with  a  crowd," 
returned  Mr.  Aston,  smiling. 

"And  a  buckboard  drive  is  one  of  them,"  put 
in  Katie. 

"I  could  never  see  anything  in  buckboards," 
said  Mrs.  Pepper,  in  her  usually  crisp  manner 

"You  and  I,  Sarah,  are  getting  on,"  remarked 
Mrs.  Aston.  "We  must  have  our  springs  and 
cushions."  (Mr.  Aston  sometimes  addressed  Mrs. 
Pepper  in  this  familiar  way.) 

"As  for  that,"  rejoined  Mrs.  Pepper,  frowning 
slightly,  "  I  feel  as  young  as  I  ever  did ;  and  good- 
ness knows  there's  spring  enough  to  a  buckboard. 
But  I  can't  see,  for  the  life  of  me,  what  pleasure 
people  find  jolting  over  this  island  on  buckboards. 
It's  as  senseless  as  paddling  around  it  in  canoes." 

"Oh!  that's  delightful,"  exclaimed  Katie.  "A 
gondola  is  nothing  to  it !  " 

The  day  before  Ned  and  Harry  had  paddled  the 
young  ladies  to  Anemone  Cave  and  back  in  a 
canoe. 

"Well,  I  don't  like  the  free  and  easy  ways  of 
this  island  ;  and  what's  at  the  bottom  of  it  all  ?  " 
continued  Mrs.  Pepper. 

"Well,  what  is  at  the  bottom   of  it  all?  "  asked 


274  MRS-     PEPPER  S    SCHEME. 

Mr.  Aston,  perfectly  willing  to  hear  Mrs.  Pepper's 
views. 

"Buckboards  and  canoes,"  answered  Mrs.  Pep- 
per, with  emphasis. 

Somehow  or  other,  this  season  Bar  Harbor  pre- 
sented to  Mrs.  Pepper  a  very  tender  moral  and 
social  surface,  into  which  she  seldom  failed  to 
insert  the  sting  of  some  pretty  sharp  remarks. 

"  Nobody  goes  on  buckboards  but  hotel  people," 
she  added. 

"I  think  you  must  be  mistaken,  Sarah,"  pleas- 
antly observed  Mrs.  Aston.  "  The  last  time  we 
were  out  driving  we  met  the  Baymeaths,  the  Miz- 
zentops,  the  Lookouts  and  the  Homewoods,  all  out 
on  buckboards." 

"  Besides,  I  know  some  other  worthy  people," 
remarked  Mr.  Aston,  with  a  smile,  "  who  go  buck- 
board  driving.  And  they  used  to  be  hotel  people, 
too." 

"Speaking  of  hotels,"  laughed  Ned,  "makes 
me  think  of  a  funny  —  oh!  I  beg  pardon,"  he 
apologized,  as  he  saw  he  had  cut  off  a  remark  of 
Mrs.  Pepper's. 

"  Please  go  on,"  said  she,  with  one  of  her  far- 
away looks. 

"  Of  a  funny  experience  I  had  at  my  hotel  the 
other  day,"  continued  Ned.  "  I  went  to  my  room, 
and,  as  usual,  found  no  towels.  I  asked  a  cham- 
ber-maid out  in  the  hall  if  she  wouldn't  please  get 


MRS.    PEPPER  S    SCHEME.  2/5 

me  some.  She  said  the  lady  that  took  care  of 
that  room  was  out  making  her  afternoon  calls,  and 
that  I  couldn't  have  any  till  she  got  back,  as  she 
had  the  keys." 

A  smile  touched  every  countenance  but  Mrs. 
Pepper's. 

"But  that  wasn't  all,"  said  Ned.  "  I  then  went 
down  to  the  office  and  asked  for  some,  and  the 
clerk  handed  me  a  couple." 

"  And  did  you  take  them  to  your  room  your- 
self ?"  asked  Maud,  much  amused. 

"  O,  yes  !  and  I  met  a  man  on  the  stairs,  who 
asked  me  if  I  wasn't  the  hotel  barber." 

Equanimity  restored,  Mr.  Aston  proceeded  to 
comment  on  the  danger  resulting  to  Bar  Harbor 
from  overcrowding.  He  feared  it  might  become 
like  Long  Branch  or  Coney  Island. 

"  We  found  that  out  last  summer,  didn't  we, 
papa  ?  "  said  Katie.  "  Don't  you  remember  how  we 
had  to  look  for  rooms,  and  what  one  woman  said 
to  us  ? " 

"  I  don't  recall  it,"  said  Mr.  Aston,  as  Katie 
paused  an  instant. 

"'I  can  eat  yer,  said  she,  'but  I  can't  sleep 
yer.'  And  what  you  heard  the  man  say  in  the 
office  about  the  table  ?  "  she  went  on. 

"  O,  yes  !  "  replied  Mr.  Aston.  "  He  complained 
that  the  table  was  even  worse  than  the  year  before. 
'That  can't  be  possible,'  answered  the  proprietor. 


276  MRS.    PEPPER'S    SCHEME. 

But  it's  a  wonder  to  me,"  continued  Mr.  Aston, 
putting  in  a  good  word  for  the  hotels,  "that  they 
do  as  well  as  they  do,  with  such  armies  as  swoop 
down  upon  them  in  a  single  day.  They  eat  up 
every  green  thing." 

"  I  should  say  so,"  remarked  Mrs.  Pepper, 
"from  the  wall  of  tin  cans  that  surrounds  the 
place." 

Mrs.  Pepper  now  had  her  say  about  the  hotels. 
She  hated  the  very  sight  of  them.  And  there 
was  hardly  anything  she  so  much  dreaded  as  the 
possibility  of  being  taken  for  one  of  the  thousands 
who  swarm  on  their  piazzas.  She  would  no  more 
have  stepped  upon  a  buckboard  in  front  of  one  of 
them  —  had  necessity  compelled  her  to  resort  to 
that  obnoxious  mode  of  conveyance  —  than  she 
would  have  called  at  one  of  the  fashionable  cot- 
tages in  her  wrapper.  She  had  gone  so  far  even 
as  to  name  some  of  them.  One  she  called  the 
Modiste,  another  the  Silk  and  Ribbon,  and  still 
another,  where  a  convention  of  teachers  were 
stopping,  the  Common  School.  So  the  remarks 
she  now  made  touched  the  seam  of  her  old  ideas 
very  evenly. 

But  the  hotels  of  Bar  Harbor,  and  the  people, 
and  the  climate,  and  the  sunsets,  and  the  sun- 
rises —  if  Mrs.  Pepper  may  be  supposed  to  know 
that  Bar  Harbor  indulges  in  sunrises  —  and  num- 
berless other  things,  tasteful  or  distasteful  to  her, 


MRS.    PEPPER  S    SCHEME.  277 

she  didn't  care  to  talk  about  now.  Another 
subject  stood  foremost  in  her  mind's  eye.  She 
had  barely  reached  the  main  track  of  it,  in  her 
remarks  upon  buckboards  and  canoes,  when  she 
was  switched  off  by  Ned's  incident  of  the  towels. 

It  is  easy  to  guess  what  this  subject  was.  Had 
not  Joe  Bently  that  very  morning  left  the  Celeste? 
Was  not  the  smoke  of  the  Daybreak  still  to  be 
seen,  faintly  visible  on  the  far-off  horizon  ?  And 
was  not  Mrs.  Pepper  anxiously  hoping  that  the 
Daybreak  might  not  return  to  Bar  Harbor,  though 
she  had  but  little  doubt  that  she  would  do  so  ? 
And  last  of  all,  had  she  not  listened  to  the  ani- 
mated discussions  of  plans  for  excursions,  and  the 
thousand  and  one  things  that  would  have  taken 
place  had  not  the  Daybreak  been  ordered  away, 
and  that  would  take  place  should  she  soon  return  ? 

Mrs.  Pepper  deprecated  all  this  enthusiasm  on 
the  part  of  the  young  people  for  Bar  Harbor,  and 
especially  their  fondness  for  buckboards  and  ca- 
noes. To  her  mind,  Bar  Harbor,  at  this  time, 
should  receive  nothing  but  dispraise  ;  and  buck- 
boards  and  canoes  were  to  her  an  appropriation  of 
what  should  have  remained  the  unmolested  expe- 
dients of  agricultural  and  aboriginal  wayfaring. 
[Wayfaring  was  her  word.] 

In  truth,  Mrs.  Pepper  was  out  of  fellowship 
with  nearly  everything  at  Bar  Harbor.  And  she 
was  so  simply  on   account   of   our  young  people. 


278  MRS.    PEPPER'S    SCHEME. 

Their  love  for  Bar  Harbor  would  keep  them  to- 
gether ;  and  what  she  wanted  just  now  was  the 
distance  of  not  less  than  ninety  degrees  of  the 
earth's  surface  between  two  of  them  at  least.  So 
when  Ned  and  Maud  expressed  the  wish  that  the 
Daybreak  might  not  be  long  detained,  because 
they  desired  so  much  to  see  more  of  Harry  and 
Joe,  she  was  prompt  with  the  interrogative,  "  Why 
should  the  Daybreak  return  to  Bar  Harbor  ?  " 

"  Simply  because  Captain  Farradale  wants  to," 
said  Mr.  Aston. 

"  What  in  the  world  is  there  for  a  man-of-war  to 
do  here!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Pepper.  "Why  don't 
she  stay  where  she  is  ?  " 

"What  for?"  propounded  Mr.  Aston. 

"  What  for  ?    To  protect  our  fisheries,  of  course." 

"Our  fisheries  !  "  laughed  Mr.  Aston,  emphasiz- 
ing the  pronoun. 

"They're  too  fond  of  spending  their  summers 
at  Newport  and  Bar  Harbor,  anyway.  If  I  was 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  it  would  be  different,  I  can 
tell  you." 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Aston,  smiling  at  Mrs.  Pepper's 
vehemence,  "  I've  no  doubt  it  would  be  different. 
You'd  send  them  to  the  North  Pole  in  winter,  and 
to  the  West  Indies  in  summer.  But  this  isn't  a 
scurvy  and  yellow  fever  administration." 

"  I'd  give  them  something  to  do,"  said  the  relent- 
less Mrs.  Pepper. 


MRS.     PEPPER'S    SCHEME.  279 

"  Something  to  do  !  "  exclaimed  Maud,  indignant 
at  Mrs.  Pepper's  unkind  and  unjust  opposition  to 
the  Navy.  "  You  ought  to  hear  what  my  cousin 
Harry  says  about  it." 

"  What  does  he  say  ?  " 

"  He  says  it's  the  hardest  kind  of  a  life,  and 
there's  very  little  to  look  forward  to." 

"  He's  right  in  that,"  returned  Mrs.  Pepper. 
"There's  nothing  to  look  forward  to  but  small 
salaries." 

"  It's  a  highly  honorable  profession,"  said  Katie, 
"  if  the  salaries  are  small.  And  poverty  isn't  the 
worst  thing  in  the  world." 

"But  poverty  isn't  to  be  chosen,  my  dear,  when 
wealth  can  be  had  just  as  easily,"  said  Mrs.  Pep- 
per, with  great  deliberation,  looking  straight  at 
the  speaker. 

But  her  remark  was  lost  upon  Katie. 

"  If  we  can  have  wealth,  and  choose  poverty, 
we  fly  in  the  face  of  Providence,"  Mrs.  Pepper 
went  on. 

"Who  is  she  hitting  now?"  thought  Katie 
to  herself.  "  She  is  always  hitting  somebody. 
Oh!  I  know;  she's  thinking  how  foolish  Joe  was 
not  to  leave  the  Navy  and  become  a  naval  archi- 
tect, or  study  law." 

"I  should  say  that,  on  the  whole,"  remarked 
Mrs.  Aston,  "it's  better  that  officers  of  the  Navy 
should  receive  rather  small  salaries." 


28o  MRS.    PEPPER'S    SCHEME. 

"Why?"  asked  Mrs.  Pepper. 

"  Because  their  profession  doesn't  belong  to  the 
money-making  professions.  And  it  makes  them 
all  the  manlier,  braver  men." 

"  I  never  heard  that  before,"  said  Mrs.  Pepper. 

"You  wouldn't  present  that  as  indisputable  evi- 
dence, would  you,"  said  Mr.  Aston,  good  naturedly, 
"that  it  can't  be  so  ?  " 

As  this  was  not  intended  for  sarcasm,  Mrs.  Pep- 
per did  not  take  offense.  But  catching  at  Mrs. 
Aston's  incidental  allusion  to  bravery,  she  rather 
unfortunately,  for  herself,  took  occasion  to  bring 
out  her  ideas  of  courage  for  their  periodic  airing. 
The  one  upon  which  she  most  prided  herself  — 
the  silk-lined,  ermine-fringed  idea,  so  to  speak  — 
was,  that  courage  is  nothing  more  than  a  natural 
impulse  or  instinct.  People,  she  said,  should  no 
more  boast  of  it  than  of  the  sense  of  touch  or  taste. 
And  this  time  she  did  not  stop  until  every  stitch 
and  thread  of  her  knowledge  on  the  subject  was 
hung  out  before  her  listeners. 

"Was  it  natural  impulse,"  asked  Maud,  stirred 
to  argument  more  by  Mrs.  Pepper's  manner  than 
by  her  words,  "that  caused  Joe  Bently  to  pitch  that 
shell  overboard?" 

Harry  had  told  her  the  incident,  and  Mr.  Aston 
had  heard  it  from  Captain  Farradale. 

"It  was  nothing  more!"  was  the  reply,  in  a 
rather  withering:  tone. 


MRS.     PEPPER'S    SCHEME.  28 1 

"I  should  think,"  laughed  Ned,  "his  natural 
impulse  would  have  been  to  run." 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Aston  ;  "my  friend,  Dr.  Rogers, 
of  Bar  Harbor,  who  was  an  officer  of  the  Navy 
during  the  war,  did  the  same  thing.  And  he  told 
me  his  impulse  was  to  go  out  over  the  flying  jib- 
boom." 

"Was  it  natural  impulse,  that  time  at  the  Ac- 
quidneck  ? "  said  Mrs.  Aston,  smiling  and  looking 
slyly  at  Mrs.  Pepper. 

"You're  always  throwing  that  up  to  me,"  said 
Mrs.  Pepper,  with  extreme  rigidity  of  counte- 
nance and  frigidity  of  tone. 

Two  years  before,  the  Astons  and  Mrs.  Pepper 
had  spent  a  month  at  the  Hotel  Acquidneck  in 
Newport.  One  day  while  they  were  at  dinner  a 
slight  fire  broke  out  on  the  roof  of  the  building. 
Natural  impulse  had  sent  them  all  scampering  to 
their  rooms  to  save  their  effects  ;  and  the  alarm 
meanwhile  not  abating,  natural  impulse  had  evicted 
Mrs.  Pepper  from  her  room  without  her  effects. 
Or,  at  least,  with  only  a  crochet  needle  and  a  ball 
of  yarn  to  show  for  the  visit.  And  it  may  be  re- 
marked that  these  were  not  her  most  valuable 
effects,  either.  Her  conduct  on  that  occasion 
made  natural  impulse  a  rather  doubtful  quantity 
in  the  minds  of  her  friends  whenever  she  attempt- 
ed to  show  that  it  was  the  principal  ingredient  of 
courage. 


252  MRS.     PEPPER  S    SCHEME. 

Dinner  over,  the  party  went  up  on  deck  — 
the  gentlemen  to  smoke  their  cigars,  and  the 
ladies,  with  one  exception,  to  enjoy  the  splendors 
of  the  evening. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  Mrs.  Pepper  was  as  unrec- 
onciled to  Joe  as  ever.  And  the  outlook  to  her 
was  now  a  very  serious  one.  Our  naval  cadet  had 
excited  her  gravest  fear  for  Katie.  His  modest, 
gentle  demeanor,  she  felt,  would  do  more  toward 
winning  the  young  girl  than  any  audacious  assault 
he  might  attempt  upon  her  heart.  So  quiet,  so 
sensible,  so  unpresuming  had  he  been,  so  careful 
lest  he  should  give  some  little  trouble,  that  when 
he  departed  she  saw  that  he  held  a  firmer  place  in 
his  friends'  regard  than  ever.  He  had  not  at  all 
deported  himself  as  she  had  intimated  it  would  be 
a  naval  cadet's  nature  to  do  —  to  act  as  though 
the  yacht  belonged  to  him.  On  the  contrary,  his 
behavior  was  such  as  to  show  Mrs.  Pepper  that  he 
much  preferred  to  have  remained  on  board  the 
Daybreak. 

To  sum  up,  Mrs.  Pepper's  woman's  eye  saw  that 
a  handsome,  manly  young  fellow  like  Joe  Bently 
would  not  have  to  go  about  the  world  obliged  to 
beg  or  to  force  his  way  into  the  good  graces  of 
young  ladies.  She  had  sniffed  danger  the  first 
time  she  saw  him  ;  danger  to  which  Katie's  par- 
ents seemed  painfully  obtuse.  As  we  have  seen, 
she  had  attempted  to  nip  this   danger  in   the  bud, 


MRS.    PEPPER'S    SCHEME.  2S3 

and  now,  to  her  chagrin,  it  had  broken  out  into  a 
very  strong  shoot,  which  would  not  be  nipped. 
Nothing  she  had  done  thus  far  had  been  of  any 
avail  in  keeping  Joe  away,  and  she  felt  if  the  Day- 
break came  back  her  scheme  would  be  in  danger. 

For  Mrs.  Pepper  had  a  scheme.  And  on  ac- 
count of  this  scheme  she  had  gone  on  laying  her 
lash  upon  Joe  over  the  shoulders  of  the  whole 
Navy.  And  her  hostility  to  the  innocent  cadet 
was  no  more  a  freak  of  her  nature  than  the  cov- 
ering of  its  eggs  in  the  sand  is  a  freak  of  an 
ostrich's  nature.  Her  scheme,  it  is  true,  was  not 
remarkably  original ;  nor  was  it  developed  with 
much  wisdom.  It  was,  indeed,  a  very  shallow 
scheme.  But  such  as  it  was,  it  accounts  for  Mrs. 
Pepper's  attitude  toward  Joe. 

It  was  simply  this  :  to  make  a  match  between 
Katie  and  a  young  man  of  her  own  choosing.  This 
young  man  she  had  found  in  the  person  of  a  friend 
in  Providence.  Between  this  friend,  whom  she 
was  fond  of  designating  "  the  rising  young  law- 
yer," and  Katie  she  was  anxious  to  bring  about  a 
meeting.  She  had  hoped  it  might  be  accom- 
plished the  present  season,  but  had  been  disap- 
pointed. She  had  intimated  to  Mrs.  Aston  that 
it  would  add  greatly  to  her  pleasure  if  she  were 
allowed  to  invite  her  young  friend  to  Bar  Harbor, 
with  the  promise  that  he  should  be  entertained  on 
board  the  yacht.      But  never  having  met  the  young 


284  MRS.    PEPPER'S    SCHEME. 

gentleman,  Mrs.  Aston  declined  the  honor  that 
his  coming  would  have  thrust  upon  her.  Mrs. 
Pepper  then  undertook  to  persuade  Mr.  Aston  to 
spend  a  month  with  the  Celeste  in  Narragansett 
Bay.  But  as  he  did  not  know  the  supreme  good 
Mrs.  Pepper  had  in  contemplation  for  his  beloved 
Katie,  he  remained  at  Bar  Harbor,  and  the  "rising 
young  lawyer"  took  his  outing  at  Narragansett 
Pier  and  Rocky  Point. 

And  this  is  why  Mrs.  Pepper  did  not  like  Joe 
Bently. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


THAT     ANNAPOLIS      GIRL. 


JOE  returned  to  Bar  Harbor  in  a  different 
frame  of  mind  from  that  in  which  he  had 
left  it.  He  came  back  fully  resolved  upon  spend- 
ing very  little  time  away  from  the  Daybreak.  He 
had  been  able  to  devote  so  little  attention  to  his 
studies,  on  account  of  the  distractions  of  ship-life, 
that  he  now  felt  it  was  high  time  for  him  to  re- 
sume them.  As  surely  as  the  earth  would  make 
her  revolutions,  so  surely  would  his  examination 
come  in  the  no  distant  future. 

And  what  if  he  should  fail  at  that  time  !  Never 
thereafter  could  he  look  his  friends  in  the  face. 
The  agricultural  development  of  Aroostook  Coun- 
ty would  thenceforth  be  his  life  mission.  So  this, 
he  concluded,  formed  an  excellent  excuse  for  re- 
maining on  board  ship.  Would  not  this  be  killing 
two  birds  with  one  stone  ?  Katie  would  be  kept 
out  of  his  mind,  and  he  would  be  preparing  for 
his  examination. 

And  the  canoes  might  glance  about  the  harbor 
28s 


286  THAT    ANNAPOLIS     GIRL. 

and  the  buckboards  rattle  over  the  hills,  the  tops 
of  the  mountains  might  call  to  him  and  the  caves 
might  lift  up  their  voices  —  all  the  grand  and  beau- 
tiful things  of  Bar  Harbor  might  unite  to  draw 
him  away  from  his  loved  studies,  yet  he  would 
regard  them  as  sirens  all,  attempting  to  lure  him 
upon  the  rocks  of  professional  disaster. 

These  were  the  high-flown  phrases  which  bore 
him  in  his  purpose  so  very  far  aloft,  that  he  felt 
nothing  could  get  him  down  to  the  idle,  pleasure- 
seeking  habits  into  which  he  charged  himself  as 
having  been  in  clanger  of  falling.  No,  he  told 
Harry  before  leaving  Passamaquoddy  Bay  that  he 
was  going  back  to  Bar  Harbor  to  get  in  some  solid 
work,  and  nothing  should  divert  him  from  it. 
Which  statement  amused  Harry. 

But  when  he  was  back  in  Bar  Harbor,  and  Ned 
and  Maud  and  Katie  had  been  on  board  the  Day- 
break, and  he  and  Harry  and  Schopy  had  been 
on  board  the  Celeste,  he  discovered  that  his  resolu- 
tion was  like  a  very  light,  untimely  snow.  It 
couldn't  stand  the  social  tropics  it  had  fallen  into. 
So  the  Daybreak  had  not  swung  to  her  anchor 
forty-eight  hours  before  Joe  was  hand  in  glove 
with  the  young  people  in  all  their  plans  for  taking 
in  Bar  Harbor  and  the  places  around  the  bay. 
Alas  for  good  resolutions  ! 

And  these  young  people !  What  a  congenial 
party    they    made !       How    in     accord    with     one 


THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL.  287 

another  —  an  anomalous  state  of  things  —  in  just 
the  things  to  be  done  !  And  as  time  goes  on, 
how  clannish  and  cliquish  they  become,  attracting 
much  attention  as,  bent  on  their  own  purposes, 
they  often  pass  along  the  buckboard  and  piazza- 
flanked  sidewalks  of  the  village.  Visitors  came 
to  notice  and  to  admire  these  exclusive,  handsome 
young  people,  so  apparently  contented  and  happy 
in  one  another,  and  so  indifferent  to  the  fashion- 
able world  around. 

Yes,  Joe's  good  resolution,  true  to  the  instinct 
of  all  good  resolutions,  had  migrated.  All  the 
time  he  and  Harry  could  now  get  off  duty  was 
spent  with  their  young  friends  of  the  Celeste. 
"Of  course  the  Daybreak  will  be  here  only  a 
short  time,"  Joe  said  to  himself,  "and  I  might 
just  as  well  enjoy  Bar  Harbor  while  I  have  it." 

And  so  he  was  all  ready  for  every  excursion  as 
it  came.  The  only  one  to  find  fault  with  this  was 
Mrs.  Pepper.  It  seemed  to  her  that  the  picnic 
basket  was  never  out  of  hand.  But  what  could 
she  do  ?  Her  only  alternative  was  to  go  with 
them  when  she  was  invited ;  but  that  was  not 
often.  She  could  not  see,  moreover,  why  the 
cadets  were  not  kept  on  board  ship  more. 

"They'll  make  pretty  officers,"  she  said  to  Mrs. 
Aston;   "off  every  day  or  two." 

She  had  now  fixed  her  attention  on  the  disci- 
pline of  the  Navy,  particularly  that  part  of  it  relat- 


288  THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL. 

ing  to  the  highest  efficiency  of  cadets.  Beginning 
with  the  broad  subject  of  naval  discipline,  the 
combined  wisdom  of  boards  of  admirals  and  com- 
mittees of  legislators,  her  ideas  had  narrowed 
down  to  just  one  feature  of  it  ;  namely,  that  of 
restricted  liberty.  Naval  cadets  went  ashore  alto- 
gether too  much  ;  that  is,  two  naval  cadets  did  — 
Joe  and  Harry. 

"Why,"  said  she  one  day  to  Mrs.  Aston,  "that 
green  little  Schopy,  as  they  call  him,  will  make  a 
better  officer  than  either  of  them." 

But  the  sight-seeing,  the  walks,  the  drives,  the 
sails,  the  "rocking,"  the  "canoeing,"  the  "lawn- 
ing,"  went  right  on  ;  and  everybody  but  Joe  took 
Mrs.  Pepper's  eccentricities  and  perversities  good 
naturedly.  He  would  have  quite  forgotten  her, 
had  she  not  apprised  him  of  her  presence  on  the 
stage  of  his  affairs  by  giving  him  a  private  dig 
now  and  then.  But  for  the  most  part  life  went 
on  quite  happily  with  him. 

What,  indeed,  could  be  more  delightful  than 
the  climbs  up  Newport,  the  scramblings,  the  hold- 
ings on,  the  helping  Katie  up  the  steep  places, 
and  the  constant  watchfulness  for  steep  places  to 
help  her  up  !  All  this  was  delightful.  And  how 
this  most  glorious  season  Bar  Harbor  had  ever 
seen  was  giving  him  tone  and  buoyancy.  The 
accident  on  the  torpedo  expedition  had  pulled  him 
down  a  good  deal.      Was  not   this  a  good  enough 


THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL.  289 

reason,  he  said  to  himself,  for  being  so  much  away 
from  the  ship  ?  And  what  exhilaration  he  felt  as 
he  stood  at  the  summit  of  Newport  or  Green 
Mountain  gazing  around  him  ;  upon  the  ocean 
clotted  with  islands,  specked  with  sails,  fringed 
with  harbors,  bays  and  straits  ;  yes,  and  bearing 
upon  its  calm  bosom  Katie's  "golden  lily  of  a 
yacht."  For  Joe  had  learned  this  name  from 
Katie,  and  had  imbibed  from  her  the  affectionate 
interest  in  the  yacht  indicated  by  the  name. 

And  as  he  and  Katie  sometimes  wandered  away 
from  the  rest  of  the  party,  how  really  enthusiastic 
he  became  over  sea-gardens,  polyps,  anemones,  the 
scratches  upon  the  rocks,  made  by  amphibious 
monsters  ages  before  the  flood,  and  endless  other 
things.  For  did  not  all  these  things  excite  the 
enthusiastic  interest  of  his  young  companion  ? 
How  pleasant  it  was,  also,  to  listen  to  the  distant 
music  of  her  echoing  voice  around  the  shores  of 
Echo  Lake !  And  when  she  paused  from  her 
sketching,  or  her  studies  of  rocks  and  shells  and 
plants  —  for  Katie  was  no  idler  —  to  talk  to  him, 
how  little  he  said,  but  how  he  treasured  her  words 
in  his  memory  ! 

Joe  now  allowed  himself  to  wander  away  short 
distances  with  Katie.  It  seemed  quite  the  natural 
thing  to  do.  They  were  quite  the  boy  and  girl 
again  and  he  did  not  blame  himself  for  this.  Over 
and  over  again  as  he  lay  thinking  about  it  in   his 


29O  THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL. 

hammock  he  said  to  himself  that  it  could  not  be 
wrong".  To  be  sure  it  was  not  doing  as  he  had 
intended  to  do.  In  the  bitterness  of  his  heart 
over  Mrs.  Pepper,  since  he  had  found  that  she  had 
not  destroyed  the  friendship  of  the  Astons  for 
him,  he  had  promised  himself  to  see  as  little  of 
Katie  as  would  be  consistent  with  the  cordial  re- 
lations he  held  to  the  family. 

If  he  should  leave  off  now,  he  said  to  himself, 
they  would  certainly  think  something  was  in  the 
wind.  Why  shouldn't  he  enjoy  the  advantages 
the  season  had  laid  at  his  very  feet  ?  This  might 
be  the  last  opportunity  he  would  ever  have  to 
enjoy  the  society  of  his  friends.  Another  year 
and  the  Daybreak  might  be  locked  fast  in  polar 
ice.  And  if  in  it  all  he  was  thrown  a  good  deal 
with  Katie,  it  would  be  merely  incidental  to  a  sum- 
mer's outing. 

And  he  had  put  away  the  idea,  too,  that  his 
being  so  much  with  Katie  might  cause  her  to  lose 
her  heart  to  him.  This  was  a  height  of  egotism 
to  which  he  could  not  rise.  He  was  well  aware  of 
Mr.  Aston's  views  respecting  the  Navy.  And  he 
was  satisfied  that  Mrs.  Pepper  had  done  all  she 
could  to  bring  it  into  ill-repute  as  a  domestic  insti- 
tution. This,  with  the  feeling  that  Katie  had  no 
interest  in  him  beyond  a  strong  desire  to  see  him 
get  on  in  the  world,  made  it  seem  quite  right  to 
enjoy  with  her  the  pleasures  of  Bar  Harbor.      In 


THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL.  20,1 

truth,  he  was  surprised  to  find  how  full  of  reasons 
his  mind  was  for  doing  so.  He  got  to  be  quite 
proud  of  the  fact,  too,  that  he  could  be  so  much 
with  Katie  and  be  so  true  to  what  he  regarded  his 
duty  to  her  parents.  And  there  was  also  a  little 
feeling  of  satisfaction  in  it ;  he  was  all  the  while 
getting  even  with  Mrs.  Pepper.  Were  not  things 
going  swimmingly  with  our  cadet  ? 

Not  so  swimmingly  as  they  seemed.  For  he  did 
not  at  all  succeed  in  suppressing  his  feeling  for 
Katie.  His  secret  gave  him  many  a  heart-ache. 
Then  he  thought  sometimes  that  his  seaside  devo- 
tion to  Katie  would  not  be  understood  by  Mr. 
Aston,  if  he  came  to  know  about  it.  Somebody 
might  construct  a  little  romance  out  of  the  mo- 
nopoly he  and  Katie  had  been  seen  on  various 
occasions  to  set  up  in  each  other's  society.  Their 
being  so  much  together  might  even  cause  a  little 
pleasantry  on  board  the  yacht.  Young  people,  he 
knew,  are  quite  unsafe  in  such  matters.  His  chum 
Harry  was  utterly  untrustworthy.  While  he  would 
not  for  the  world  have  told  Katie  what  was  in  his 
heart  without  her  father's  full  permission,  how 
would  her  father  know  what  he  would  do,  accorded 
so  many  privileges  of  friendship  ?  At  any  rate,  if 
he  should  receive  a  hint  that  he  and  Katie  were 
so  much  together,  the  biggest  kind  of  an  iceberg 
would  thenceforth  exist  between  the  Daybreak 
and  the  Celeste. 


292  THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL. 

It  would  have  indeed  been  a  terrible  blow  to 
Joe  to  have  been  thus  misunderstood  by  Mr.  As- 
ton. It  was  hard  enough  to  endure  Mrs.  Pepper's 
frowns,  but  if  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston  should  frown, 
too,  it  would  be  insupportable.  So  once  in  awhile 
he  said  to  himself,  "This  thing  must  stop  right 
here."      Nevertheless,  it  did  not  stop. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  how  this  exceed- 
ingly pleasant  relation  between  Joe  and  Katie 
was  brought  about.  It  was  such  a  tremendous 
step,  its  history  is  important.  It  came  about 
in  the  simplest  way  in  the  world.  One  night, 
shortly  after  the  Daybreak's  return,  as  Joe  was 
standing  Swem's  watch  for  him,  Harry  joined  him 
for  a  bit  of  a  promenade.  The  cadets  were  often 
thus  together.  Harry  had  just  returned  from  a 
buckboard  drive,  and  was  in  rather  a  playful  humor. 
He  began  the  conversation  with  the  endearing 
remark,  "Joey  B.,  you're  a  drivelling  idiot." 

Joe  was  accustomed  to  this  conversational  pref- 
ace from  Harry,  and  simply  observed  with  a  smile, 
"Well,  what  have  I  done  this  time?" 

"  Done  !  What  haven't  you  done  ?  Your  goose 
is  cooked  with  Miss  Aston." 

"How  is  that?"  asked  Joe,  laughing. 

"  Schopy  did  it  for  you." 

"Well,  if  I  had  a  goose  to  cook,  I  don't  know 
of  anybody  I'd  rather  have  cook  it  than  Schopy." 

Joe  had  taken  Swem's  duty  for  that  day  that  he 


THAT    ANNAPOLIS     GIRL.  293 

might  enjoy  the  ride  to  the  Ovens  with  the  young 
people.  Harry  had  gone  ashore  early  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  buckboard,  and  Swem  had 
surprised  him  by  turning  up  in  Joe's  place. 

"You  ought  to  have  known  enough  to  have  kept 
Schopy  on  board,"  Harry  went  on.  "  He  was  very 
chummy  with  Miss  Aston." 

"We  mustn't  go  back  on  our  poor  old  Schopy," 
said  Joe.  "  He  ought  to  have  a  little  of  this 
cream." 

"Well,  he  hunted  shells  and  made  sketches  with 
her  all  day." 

"What  were  the  subjects  of  his  sketches?" 

"One  of  them  was  Joey  B.  out  on  the  foreyard 
chasing  the  Aztec.  But,  Joey,  the  shortest  cut  to 
your  case  is  —  to  iterate  the  oft-repeated  designa- 
tion —  'you're  a  drivelling  idiot '." 

"  I  can't  see  the  application  to  what  I've  done 
to-day." 

"Joey,"  said  Harry,  "why  don't  you  step  in 
there  ? " 

"What  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked  Joe,  in  consider- 
able surprise. 

"I  mean,  why  don't  you  marry  Katie  Aston? 
That  is,  when  you  get  ready." 

"  Harry,"  said  Joe,  very  seriously,  "  I  don't  like 
you  to  talk  in  this  way  about  Miss  Aston." 

"Well,  she's  dead  in  love  with  you,  or  would  be 
if  you'd  let  her." 


294  THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL. 

"  Really,  Harry,  it's  wrong  to  talk  in  this  trifling 
way.  Under  no  circumstances  would  I  have  the 
right  to  think  of  Miss  Aston  as  you  suggest." 

"Right,  Joey?  All  is  fair  in  love  and  war,  you 
know." 

"  Please,  Harry,  never  refer  to  this  matter  again. 
I'm  proud  of  Miss  Aston's  friendship,  but  we  can 
never  be  any  more  than  friends." 

"That's  why  you're  an  idiot,"  continued  the  im- 
perturbable Harry. 

"Harry,  I  can't  permit  you  to  go  on  in  this 
trifling  manner.  It's  unfair  to  Miss  Aston  and  to 
Brentford." 

At  this  Harry  laid  hold  of  a  shroud  and  laughed 
so  heartily  that  Joe  feared  he  would  wake  the  crew 
sleeping  in  their  hammocks  below.  He  kept  it  up 
so  long  that  Joe  asked  him  in  a  tone  of  displeas- 
ure what  there  was  so  funny  in  what  he  had  said. 

"Joey,"  said  the  irrepressible  Harry,  "you  ex- 
cite me  to  mirth.  You  are  not  a  citizen  of  the 
world.  You  are  the  best  boy  in  Sunday  School. 
I  fear  your  early  demise." 

At  this  Joe  promptly  evinced  his  displeasure  by 
a  very  caustic  remark. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  you  don't  know  about 
Brentford  ?  "  asked  Harry. 

"What  about  him?  I've  always  suspected  that 
he  and  Miss  Aston  were  something  more  than 
friends." 


THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL.  295 

"And  that's  the  extent  of  your  discovery  ?  "  said 
the  tormenting  Harry. 

"What  !  "  almost  gasped  Joe  ;  "are  they  really 
engaged  ?  " 

"Well,  Joey,"  said  Harry,  "your  case  is  hope- 
less. I  give  you  up.  You  haven't  the  perception 
of  a  jelly-fish." 

Joe  only  stared  at  Harry. 

"If  it  wasn't  a  family  secret  I'd  tell  you  some- 
thing." 

"A  family  secret!  what  do  you  mean?"  asked 
the  puzzled  Joe. 

"  Has  it  never  occurred  to  you,  Joey,  that  there's 
another  girl  around  —  a  prettier  girl,  too,  than 
Katie  Aston  ? " 

Joe  was  getting  excited.  "  Do  you  mean  to  say 
that  Brentford  and  Miss  Edgerton  "  — 

"  I  don't  mean  to  say  anything.  I  never  tell 
family  secrets,  Joey." 

Joe's  walk  was  now  anything  but  a  military 
tread.  His  pace  had  so  quickened  that  the  ring 
of  his  steps  could  be  heard  fore  and  aft.  Harry 
was  trying  to  keep  up  with  him,  chuckling  to  him- 
self all  the  while  over  his  excitement.  Joe  now 
saw,  as  he  paced  on  altogether  oblivious  of  his 
friend's  presence,  what  he  might  have  easily  dis- 
covered during  his  stay  on  board  the  yacht.  But 
his  Medo-Persian  intellect  bound  him  to  another 
theory. 


296  THAT    ANNAPOLIS    GIRL. 

"Well,  Joey,"  said  Harry  at  last,  drawing  a  long 
breath,  "you've  got  your  walking  tactics  on,  and 
I'll  go  below." 

"Oh  !  I  beg  pardon,"  said  Joe,  "please  don't  go 
yet." 

"You're  much  preoccupied,  Joey,  and  you'll  be 
better  without  me.  I'm  glad  you're  coming  to 
your  senses.  But  do  you  know  what  I'd  do,  if  I 
were  in  your  place  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Joe. 

"  If  I  had  your  swing  with  the  Astons,  I'd  have 
a  rattling  good  time  at  Bar  Harbor  this  summer," 
remarked  enthusiastic  Harry. 

"I  am  having  a  good  enough  time." 

"  Well,  if  you  call  moping  on  board  ship,  and 
fighting  shy  of  a  girl  like  Katie  Aston  having  a 
good  time,  then  you're  surely  having  a  magnificent 
time." 

"  I  don't  see  what  I  can  do  more,  with  all  the 
work  we  have." 

"  You  can  take  your  day  off  when  it  comes,  and 
not  do  Schopy's  duty.  But  go  in,  Joey,  for  that 
little  girl.  She'll  be  a  hard  one  to  land  ;  but  I 
guess  you  can  do  it,  if  you  employ  the  proper  tac- 
tics. "  And  Harry  dropped  below,  wondering  if 
Joe  had  a  particle  of  enthusiasm  for  Katie. 

Harry  had  succeeded  in  demolishing  one  strong- 
hold of  Joe's  difficulty.  But  plenty  of  other  works 
remained,  wall  within  wall.      Joe  fixed  it  up  in  this 


THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL.  297 

way.  One  strong  wall,  was  Mr.  Aston's  evident 
dislike  of  the  Navy,  as  we  have  seen,  as  a  domes- 
tic institution.  Another,  like  unto  it,  was  Katie's 
probable  sympathy  with  her  father  on  the  same 
subject.  It  seemed  that  in  this  affair  there  was 
nothing  but  walls  about  him,  and  he  felt  a  good 
deal  like  a  prisoner  in  a  fort.  He  had  a  certain 
freedom,  so  to  speak,  of  the  parade  ground,  but  he 
was  always  under  guard.  Did  not  his  own  sense 
of  duty  to  Katie's  parents  seem  to  follow  him 
about  continually,  as  under  arms  ?  And  way  up 
in  the  most  conspicuous  watch-tower  was  Mrs. 
Pepper,  her  vigilant  eye  always  upon  him,  ready 
at  the  slightest  movement  toward  escape,  or  in 
other  words,  toward  Katie's  heart,  to  relentlessly 
pick  him  off. 

But  Harry  noticed  the  very  next  time  they  were 
all  out  together,  that  Joe  actually  fell  full  twenty 
feet  behind  the  rest  of  the  party,  with  the  evident 
intention  of  being  alone  with  Katie.  Harry  went 
so  far  as  to  celebrate  the  event  with  a  broad  grin 
at  his  cousin.  This  first  loitering  was  prefatory 
of  a  perceptible  increase  of  distance,  until  it  often 
became  as  many  as  a  thousand  yards  —  a  tremen- 
dous range  for  a  bashful  cadet. 

It  is  hard  to  tell  what  Joe  talked  about  on  these 
occasions,  as  he  was  non-committal  except  in  a 
few  of  their  conversations.  But  one  subject  on 
which  he  succeeded  in  making  many  diffuse  and 


298  THAT    ANNAPOLIS     GIRL. 

inconsistent  remarks,  was  the  weather.  One  even- 
ing he  delivered  to  Katie  a  few  thoughts  on  the 
moon.  Another  time  he  was  successful  in  making; 
it  fairly  evident  to  her  understanding  that  the  sea 
was  blue.  It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  Joe's  sub- 
tle processes  of  reasoning  to  arrive  at  those  facts 
in  nature  of  which,  for  a  time,  he  made  such  copi- 
ous use.  But  it  is  certain  that  the  first  week  or 
two  his  conversation  never  wandered  away  from 
natural  phenomena. 

One  day  they  had  all  climbed,  with  great  diffi- 
culty, to  the  top  of  one  of  the  high  hills  of  Mt. 
Desert,  wearing  the  homely  name  of  Nubble.  Off 
a  little  distance  from  where  they  had  taken  lunch, 
Joe  found  a  prettily  perched  seat  on  which  Katie 
could  sit  and  feast  her  eyes  upon  the  view  before 
her  to  her  heart's  content.  It  was  at  a  point  where 
one  of  the  grandest  of  natural  panoramic  views 
received  no  interruption.  In  the  foreground  was 
a  hill  with  beautifully  sloping  sides,  its  feet  laved 
by  the  waters  of  two  pretty  lakes.  Beyond  was  a 
wide  display  of  intermingled  forests  and  farms, 
cottages,  both  of  the  old  and  the  new  Mt.  Desert, 
headlands  and  islands,  the  whole,  save  here  and 
there  an  open  water-space,  bordered  by  a  purple 
fringe  of  circling  hills. 

So  crowded  was  this  vision  with  nooks  and  cor- 
ners of  beauty,  that  it  seemed  to  Joe  he  could  let 
his   eyes  wander  among  them    the   live  long   day. 


JOE   STOOD    BY   AS    USUAL,    LIKE   A    WOODEN    APOLLO. 


THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL.  299 

That  is,  if  Katie  could  spend  that  much  time  in 
the  same  occupation.  Somehow  or  other  this  was 
one  of  Joe's  melancholy  days.  He  was  very  quiet, 
and  had  given  Katie  the  impression  that  some- 
thing was  wrong  with  him.  She  had  been  talking 
with  him  lately  about  his  life  plans,  and  had  not 
found  him  nearly  so  frank  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  one  in  whose  success  in  life  they  all 
felt  such  a  warm  interest.  At  times,  indeed,  Joe 
seemed  rather  sad,  and  Katie  had  been  trying  to 
account  for  it  in  her  own  mind.  She  wondered  if 
his  ambition  outran  the  life  he  had  chosen.  Then 
she  recalled  Dawson's  allusion  to  some  worry  that 
was  on  his  mind.  And  in  perfect  innocence,  she 
thought  —  and  she  had  been  thinking  this  all 
along  —  that  perhaps  some  Annapolis  girl  had  for- 
gotten all  about  him  in  the  absorption  of  some 
new  cadet.  She  had  heard  of  the  transitory  na- 
ture of  Annapolis  heart  affections.  At  any  rate, 
she  plainly  saw,  in  common  parlance,  that  Joe 
wasn't  easy  in  his  mind. 

She  took  up  her  sketch-book,  and  commenced 
sketching.  Joe  stood  by  as  usual,  like  a  wooden 
Apollo,  saying  not  a  word.  The  other  young  peo- 
ple were  chatting  and  laughing,  off  at  the  now 
customary  distance  of  a  thousand  yards. 

"Joe,"  said  Katie,  while  her  fingers  flew  over 
the  page,  "  why  do  you  make  me  do  all  the  talk- 
ins:  ?      I  can  listen  and  work,  too." 


300  THAT    ANNAPOLIS     GIRL. 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  laughed  Joe,  "unless, 
perhaps,  it's  because  I  like  to  hear  sensible  people 
talk." 

"  I  might  return  the  compliment,"  said  Katie, 
smiling. 

"I  wish  I  were  able  to  accept  it." 

"Oh  !   if  anything,  you're  too  sensible,  Joe." 

"This  is  the  first  time  I  ever  suspected  it,"  said 
Joe,  with  a  laugh. 

"I  mean,"  continued  Katie,  "you're  too  soberly 
sensible." 

"And  you  think  I  ought  only  to  be  sensibly 
sober  ? " 

"That's  it,"  returned  Katie,  with  a  smile. 

"  I  don't  wonder  you  think  me  stupid,"  Joe 
went  on  in  a  tone  of  depression ;  "  I'm  always 
moping." 

"Oh!  no,  indeed,  Joe;  I  don't  find  you  stupid. 
Only,  if  you'll  pardon  me,  you  don't  seem  so  buoy- 
ant and  light-hearted  as  you  used  to." 

Joe  got  very  red,  and  said  he  was  sorry  to  hear 
that. 

"Are  you  disappointed  in  the  Navy?"  Katie 
went  on. 

"  Well,  no ;  not  much.  I  can't  say,  however, 
that  it  promises  a  great  deal." 

"How  so?"  inquired  Katie. 

"  Promotions  are  so  slow.  It  reminds  me  of  a 
jam  of  logs." 


THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL.  3OI 

"What  a  queer  comparison  !  "  observed  Katie. 

"You  see,"  explained  Joe,  "those  the  farthest 
along  —  the  admirals,  commodores,  captains,  and 
so  forth  —  have  got  to  be  sort  of  pried  up  and 
moved  on,  before  the  last  in  the  jam — -the  cadets 
—  can  budge." 

Katie  laughed  at  this  way  of  putting  it,  and 
said,  "Sometimes  a  jam  of  logs  goes  with  a  rush, 
you  know." 

"O,  yes  !  that's  what  we  are  hoping  for,"  replied 
Joe.      "  For  Congress  to  break  up  the  jam." 

"Do  Aunt  Pepper's  affectionate  allusions  to  the 
Navy  trouble  you,  Joe  ?  "  Katie  continued. 

"Not  very  much,"  answered  Joe,  getting  a  good 
deal  redder. 

"Well,  she  and  papa  are  right  in  one  thing." 

"What  is  that  ?"  asked  Joe,  trying  to  disguise 
his  interest. 

"  It  affords  almost  no  opportunity  for  making  a 
name." 

"We  have  to  take  our  chances  on  that." 

"Mr.  Edgerton  says,  unless  there's  a  war,  naval 
officers  will  all  degenerate  into  mere  Government 
employes." 

"I  hope  it  won't  be  so  bad  as  all  that." 

"  I  trust  something  will  turn  up,  for  your  sake, 
Joe  ;  we  are  all  so  anxious  for  you  to  do  well  in 
life." 

"That  protege  business,"  thought  Joe  to  him- 


302  THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL. 

self.  "  They're  only  interested  in  me  because 
they've  helped  me  along." 

"The  worst  thing  about  the  Navy,"  said  Katie, 
musing  over  her  sketch,  "is  the  separations  it 
imposes." 

"They  are  rather  long,"  Joe  managed  to  say. 

"What's  the  longest  time  officers  are  absent 
from  their  friends,  Joe?" 

"Seldom  longer  than  three  years." 

"  How  dreadful  !  Won't  Mr.  Bloomsbury  see 
those  beautiful  children  for  three  years  ?  " 

Katie  had  seen  pictures  of  the  Hercules,  the 
Ajax  and  the  Superb,  one  clay  on  the  Daybreak. 

"  Not  if  we  leave  the  home  station,"  answered 
Joe. 

"Well,  I'm  beginning  to  think  the  Navy  isn't 
so  much  of  a  place,  after  all." 

"  Our  old  Scbopy  has  been  giving  it  a  setting 
out,  I  guess,"  remarked  Joe,  trying  to  smile. 

"  O,  yes  !  "  laughed  Katie  ;  "  he  was  very  dismal, 
but  highly  amusing.  He  told  me  that  you  do  not 
like  it  much  better  than  he  does.  I  thought  you 
were  wedded  to  it." 

"I  am,"  said  Joe.  "I  mean  to  stay  in  it,  and 
hope  for  the  better." 

■  "  I  hope  you  will,  I'm  sure,"  Katie  went  on. 
"  I  have  always  thought  it  was  the  best  place  for 
you." 

"There  it  is  again,"   thought   Joe.       "It's    the 


THAT    ANNAPOLIS    GIRL.  303 

poor  but  worthy  young  man  getting  a  boost  in  life 
from  his  rich  friends.  He's  a  sort  of  investment 
to  them.  They  put  so  much  charity  and  good-will 
into  him,  and  thereafter  their  only  interest  is  to 
see  how  large  a  dividend  he  can  declare  to  their 
pride  of  generosity  from  the  success  of  his  life." 

But  Katie  kept  on.  "Joe,"  said  she,  "Dawson 
said  you  were  worried  about  something,  Is  it 
anything  I  may  know  about  ?  " 

If  Katie  had  looked  up  from  her  sketch,  upon 
which  she  was  now  putting  the  finishing  touches, 
she  would  have  discovered  that  Joe's  face  resem- 
bled the  sun  seen  through  smoked  glass.  Joe 
thought  of  the  poor  but  worthy  young  man  again. 
And  he  said  to  himself  that  those  who  have  helped 
such  an  one,  forever  after  think  they  hold  a  mort- 
gage on  him,  body  and  soul.  "Why,"  he  declared 
to  himself,  in  the  intensity  of  his  feeling,  "they 
think  they  have  the  right  to  put  their  fingers  into 
the  vest  pockets  of  his  very  troubles  !  " 

But  here  was  Katie  waiting  an  answer.  He 
saw  that  she  had  surmised  nothing  in  regard  to 
herself  from  what  Dawson  had  said.  She  must, 
however,  have  a  reply.  By  a  singular  coincidence, 
he  thought  of  an  Annapolis  girl,  but  he  could  not 
tell  the  barefaced  untruth  which  this  would  in- 
volve. And  how  could  he  tell  the  truth  ?  This 
wouldn't  do  at  all.  The  protege  idea  had  now 
gotten  rooted  in  his  mind.      This  in  itself,  he  said, 


304  THAT    ANNAPOLIS     GIRL. 

was  sufficient  reason  for  not  revealing  his  secret. 
And  over  and  above  this,  were  Katie's  evident 
simplicity  and  the  principle  of  honor  which  he 
cherished  toward  Mr.  Aston.  Taking  into  account 
everything  that  had  passed  in  Joe's  mind,  neither 
heaven  nor  earth  could  have  moved  him  now  to 
tell  Katie  the  truth.  Well,  what  did  he  do  ?  Do  ? 
Why,  he  just  laid  hold  of  the  first  dangling  rope 
of  evasion  which  dropped  down  into  his  thoughts, 
-and  by  means  of  it,  helped  himself  out  of  the  tight 
place. 

As  so  many  are  tempted  to  do,  when  placed  in 
similar  situations,  Joe  told  what  was  strictly  true 
in  itself,  but  out  of  all  connection  with  the 
real  truth. 

In  much  confusion  he  managed  to  say  he  had 
worried  some  about  his  eyes.  He  thought  at  first 
it  was  going  hard  with  them.  Dawson,  he  said, 
took  his  little  troubles  to  heart  even  more  than  he 
did  his  own. 

It  seemed  rather  strange  to  Katie  that  she  had 
received  the  impression  in  the  interview  already 
described,  that  Joe  was  on  watch  when  Dawson 
tried  to  comfort  him.  And  how  could  he  have 
been  on  watch,  and  in  the  cabin  blindfolded  and 
otherwise  surgically  treated,  all  at  the  same  time  ? 
In  a  word,  it  was  very  strange  that  he  should  have 
been  worrying  about  his  eyes  before  they  were  in- 
jured.     But  Katie  never  could  get  the  doings  on 


THAT     ANNAPOLIS     GIRL.  305 

board   a   man-of-war   into   any    sort    of  congruous 
relations  in  her  mind. 

However,  as  just  then  the  rest  of  the  party 
came  up  for  a  start  home,  she  concluded  that 
Joe's  little  anachronism  was  all  on  account  of  that 
Annapolis  girl. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


A     CABIN     TEMPEST 


AS  Joe  walked  down  the  hill  with  the  young 
people,  carrying  the  lunch  basket  in  one 
hand  and  Katie's  wrap  and  sketch-book  in  the 
other,  he  seemed  disposed  to  let  Ned  and  Harry 
do  all  the  talking.  And  when  they  had  reached 
the  buckboard  waiting  for  them  some  distance 
from  the  foot  of  the  hill,  he  committed  Katie  to 
Harry's  care,  on  the  back  seat  of  the  vehicle. 
This  was  reversing  the  order  in  which  they  had 
come.  Joe  had  then  occupied  the  back  seat  with 
Katie,  and  Harry  had  sat  with  the  driver,  the  one 
other  seat,  of  course,  falling  to  Ned  and  Maud. 
Joe  declared  that  it  was  not  the  fair  thing  for  him 
to  want  the  best  seat  both  ways. 

So  while  his  young  friends  chattered  away  on 
the  seats  behind  him,  he  kept  up  a  very  busy 
thinking.  Occasionally  he  made  a  remark  to  the 
driver,  but  it  was  merely  for  the  sake  of  seeming 
social  that  he  did  so ;  the  thought  uppermost  in 
Joe's  mind  was,  that  the  Astons  regarded  him  as  a 
306 


A    CABIN     TEMPEST.  2)°7 

poor,  but  worthy  young  man.  He  was  their  ben- 
eficiary. As  the  poor,  but  worthy  young  man,  they 
wanted  him  to  do  well  in  the  world,  and  this  was 
why  they  permitted  him  to  derive  what  encourage- 
ment he  could  from  their  hospitality  and  friend- 
ship. All  the  social  privileges  he  was  receiving 
at  their  hands  were  simply  evidences  of  their  help- 
ful disposition  toward  him. 

As  Joe  thought  it  ail  over,  perched  up  with  the 
driver  on  the  buckboard,  that  poor,  but  worthy 
young  man  cut  a  most  forlorn  and  dismal  figure 
in  his  own  meditations.  He  could  not  rid  himself 
of  him  ;  like  Banquo's  ghost,  he  would  not  down. 
He  haunted  Joe's  mind  ;  he  thrust  himself  into 
every  thought ;  his  pitiful  face  framed  itself  in 
every  meditation.  And  Katie's  innocent  little 
remark  was  the  all-powerful  wand  that  had  called 
up  this  "poor,  but  worthy  young  man." 

Yes,  our  cadet  was  very  proud,  and  in  his  pres- 
ent state  of  mind,  very  sensitive.  Katie's  remark 
to  which  he  had  attached  such  meaning  cut  him 
to  the  quick.  He  now  wished  that  nobody  had 
taken  any  interest  in  him  at  all — that  he  had 
been  left  to  carve  his  own  way  in  the  world. 
Then  he  could  have  carried  a  free  lance.  Then 
he  would  have  been  at  liberty  to  tell  Katie  that  he 
loved  her,  if  fortune  had  thrown  her  in  his  way. 
But  now  he  would  have  to  hold  his  secret  as  tightly 
to  his  heart  as  the  Spartan  boy  did  the  fox  to  his 


308  A    CABIN     TEMPEST. 

body.  And  his  secret,  too,  was  eating  into  the 
very  vitals  of  his  happiness. 

And  Katie's  unconsciousness  of  her  closeness 
to  the  all-absorbing  subject  with  him  filled  him 
with  surprise.  That  a  little  light  had  not  pen- 
etrated her  mind  from  the  flash  of  Mrs.  Pepper's 
suspicions  seemed  incredible.  It  was  clear  to 
him  that  Mrs.  Pepper  regarded  him  as  a  danger 
upon  which  Katie  might  stumble,  and  even  a  fire- 
fly emittance  of  warning  could  have  put  her  on 
her  guard.  But  from  the  appearance  of  things 
there  had  not  been  even  this  much  light.  And 
he  had  thought  that  Mrs.  Pepper  kept  a  big  re- 
flector turned  on  him  all  the  time. 

But  Katie  had  talked  on  all  unsuspecting.  This 
he  emphasized  to  himself  over  and  over  again.  If 
Katie  had  suspected  his  love  for  her  she  would 
never  have  gone  on  cutting  all  around  the  nerve 
of  his  secret  as  she  had  done  that  afternoon. 
Had  she  not  been  perfectly  ingenuous  he  would 
have  been  forced  to  take  some  things  she  had  said 
as  a  timely  hint  that  the  Navy  filled  no  place 
whatever  in  her  ambition  for  her  own  future. 
But  if  she  had  known  anything  about  his  mind 
toward  her  he  kept  repeating  to  himself  she  would 
not  have  done  this.  She  was  a  girl  of  altogether 
too  fine  instincts  to  do  anything  of  the  kind.  If 
she  had  had  any  hints  to  give  she  would  have 
waited  for  some  hint  from  him  before  giving  them. 


A    CABIN     TEMPEST.  309 

For  as  we  have  seen,  Joe  had  given  her  no  hint. 
In  her  presence  he  had  kept  all  the  windows  of 
his  heart  carefully  closed.  Not  a  word  or  look 
had  been  sent  therefrom  to  see  if  some  little 
branch  of  hope  might  not  be  brought  back  to  him. 
No,  it  was  plain  to  be  seen  that  Katie  knew  no 
more  of  his  mind  in  this  affair  than  a  boy  knows 
of  the  mathematical  uses  of  x,  y  and  z,  who  has 
never  studied  algebra. 

So  Joe  rode  on  making  a  good  deal  out  of  a 
very  little  ;  beholding  men  as  trees  walking.  Once 
in  a  while  he  turned  round  and  uttered  a  few 
words  to  his  companions.  He  tried  hard  to  speak 
cheerful  words,  and  apposite  to  the  occasion,  but 
he  failed  in  both  respects.  He  was  glad  when  the 
village  was  reached.  He  carried  Katie's  things 
down  to  the  Celeste's  boat  and  handed  in  the  fair 
young  mistress.  But  in  spite  of  all  he  could  do, 
on  the  way  thither  he  was  unable  to  talk  with 
her  without  evident  embarrassment ;  and  his  little 
duties  as  escort  were  done,  as  it  seemed  to  him, 
with  painful  awkwardness.  He  thought  he  de- 
tected a  slight  absent-mindedness  in  her  manner, 
too  ;  this,  however,  was  scarcely  perceptible,  and 
was  a  mere  passing  thought  with  him.  But  as 
she  held  out  her  hand  to  him  as  he  was  turning  to 
go  away,  the  kind  look  she  gave  him  went  straight 
to  his  heart.  Still  this  was  not  new  to  him  ;  for 
Katie  had  a  kind  look  for  everybody. 


3IO  A    CABIN    TEMPEST. 

The  gig  safely  started  for  the  Celeste,  Joe  and 
Harry  made  their  way  to  the  Daybreak.  Harry 
saw  that  Joe  had  something  on  his  mind,  but  this 
had  ceased  to  be  phenomenal,  and  he  made  no 
remark  upon  it.  Yet  Joe's  movements  throughout 
the  evening  did  not  pass  him  unnoticed.  Joe 
seemed  decidedly  revolutionary  as  respected  his 
intentions.  He  behaved  like  one  who  is  forming 
new  plans,  going  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf.  One  of 
the  things  he  did  was  to  get  out  a  number  of  his 
old  text  books  and  carefully  arrange  them  on  the 
table.  A  glance  showed  Harry  that  they  repre- 
sented three  great  departments  of  human  knowl- 
edge :  language,  mathematics  and  physics.  Then 
he  got  down  a  calendar,  and  seemed  absorbed  in 
dates.  Out  of  this  abstraction  came,  in  due 
course,  a  well-filled  sheet  of  paper  which  looked  to 
Harry  very  much  like  a  time-form.  After  a  little 
Harry  began  to  quiz  him.  He  learned  that  the 
paper  Joe  had  been  at  work  upon  was  in  reality  a 
time-form,  and  that  he  was  going  to  spend  the 
next  week  in  preparing  for  his  examination,  two 
years  ahead.  He  said  it  would  get  round  before 
he  knew  it,  and  if  any  dropping  was  to  be  done  he 
didn't  propose  to  be  one  of  the  dropped.  Harry 
affronted  him  by  remarking  that  it  was  rather  bad 
to  be  dropped  in  anything. 

Joe  said,  furthermore,  he  supposed  he  should 
have  to  spend  a  part  of  the  week  after  at  his  home ; 


A    CABIN    TEMPEST.  3  I  I 

his  sisters  had  been  teasing  him  to  come.  Harry 
admitted  that  this  ought  to  be  done.  The  exigen- 
cies of  the  Service  were  liable,  any  time,  he  said, 
to  put  their  homes  out  of  reach  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  a  cadet  needed  all  the  stores  of  home- 
influence  he  could  take  in  to  carry  abroad  with 
him  in  the  world.  Joe  said  very  little  during  the 
evening,  but  to  every  remark  Harry  assented  with, 
"Why,  yes."  "To  be  sure."  "O,  certainly!  by 
all  means"  ;  or,  "it's  an  excellent  idea."  And  by 
the  time  they  swung  themselves  into  their  ham- 
mocks, Joe  felt  very  much  tried  with  his  mess- 
mate Harry.  And  between  him  and  that  poor, 
but  worthy  young  man,  he  spent  several  hours 
looking  out  of  his  hammock  at  the  corrugated  sur- 
face of  a  lantern. 

It  is  to  be  wondered  at  that  Katie,  who  has  been, 
as  it  were,  right  under  the  eaves  of  Mrs.  Pepper's 
mind,  has  not  received  the  information  that  Joe 
Bently  is  hovering  about  the  Celeste  with  piratical 
intent.  In  Portland,  so  it  seemed  to  us,  Mrs.  Pep- 
per's liveliest  suspicions  as  to  Joe's  purpose  had 
been  awakened ;  and  now  with  the  rakish  little 
Daybreak  alongside,  and  the  knowledge  that  such 
craft  often  dash  recklessly  into  innocent  young 
hearts  like  Katie's  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a 
most  precious  treasure,  how  in  the  world  had  it 
happened  that,  Mrs.  Pepper  knowing  all  this,  she 
has  failed  in  communicating  it  to   Katie  ?     Why, 


312  A    CABIN    TEMPEST. 

simply  because  Joe  has  given  Katie  no  indication 
of  the  tender  feeling  in  his  heart  toward  her.  So 
her  mind  had  not  been  ready  to  yield  easy  access 
to  Mrs.  Pepper's  surmisings.  Then  Katie's  par- 
ents, having  seen  nothing  in  Joe  that  furnished 
the  slightest  ground  for  Mrs.  Pepper's  imputations, 
had  done  nothing  at  all  to  fill  in  the  blank  place 
existing  in  Katie's  mind  regarding  the  whole  sub- 
ject. For  to  tell  the  truth,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston 
cared  as  little  for  what  Mrs.  Pepper  thought  and 
said  as  they  did  for  the  latest  news  from  Iceland, 
but  allowed  her  to  follow  the  dictates  of  her  own 
heart  unquestioned.  This  served  to  disguise  from 
Katie  the  fact  so  patent  to  Mrs.  Pepper,  that  Joe 
had  run  into  the  peaceful  haven  of  the  Astons' 
home  to  make  its  very  joy  and  hope  his  capture — ■ 
his  prize. 

Then  there  was  that  Annapolis  girl.  They  all, 
one  day,  were  resting  on  the  rocky  incline  facing 
Anemone  Cave,  when,  just  to  worry  Joe,  Harry 
began  talking  about  the  pretty  daughter  of  a  com- 
mander in  the  Navy  —  Joe  having  been  a  frequent 
visitor  at  his  house  in  the  yard  at  Annapolis. 

It  was  a  simple  passing  remark,  but  it  helped 
to  keep  up  Katie's  illusion.  And  what  was  more, 
Miss  Maud  could  give  her  no  hint  as  to  how  this 
matter  stood  with  Joe.  Her  cousin  Harry  was 
uncommunicative  in  Joe's  affairs,  so  both  herself 
and  Katie  fancied  it  was  a  grave  secret.      And  Joe 


A    CABIN    TEMPEST.  313 

had  kept  his  secret  so  close  that  Harry  had  been 
astonished  at  his  apparent  indifference  to  Katie, 
and  at  times  thought  that  Joe  after  all  might  have 
lost  his  heart  in  the  Aroostook  or  even  to  the 
Annapolis  girl.  So,  after  all,  Mrs.  Pepper  is  the 
only  person  in  the  world  who  can  enlighten  Katie 
in  regard  to  our  hero's  intentions. 

And  this  undoubtedly  would  have  been  done  but 
for  Mrs.  Pepper's  habit  of  treating  nearly  all  the 
young  men  of  Katie's  acquaintance  very  much 
alike.  Joe  was  served  no  worse  than  the  rest  of 
them.  Even  the  few  streaks  of  affability  which 
he  had  seen  fall  upon  Ned  did  not  break  from 
under  her  cloud  till  she  was  aware  that  Maud,  and 
not  Katie,  was  the  object  of  Ned's  devotion.  Miss 
Maud  explained  Mrs.  Pepper's  case  in  a  very 
few  words.  "It  is  Mrs.  Pepper's  delight,"  she 
said,  "to  pick  up  young  men  and  put  them  down 
hard."  On  this  account,  therefore,  the  poverty  of 
Mrs.  Pepper's  good-will  toward  Joe,  and  the  rough 
handling  she  sometimes  gave  him,  evoked  scarcely 
a  comment  from  Katie. 

We  already  know  of  Mrs.  Pepper's  sense  of  pro- 
priety. Upon  this  she  daily  plumed  herself.  She 
never  failed  on  any  occasion,  favorable  or  other- 
wise, when  she  thought  the  necessities  of  the  case 
demanded  it,  to  impart  her  views  as  to  what  Katie 
should  do,  and  what  she  shouldn't  do.  She  often 
said  if  she  could  have  her  way  Katie  would  never 


314  A    CABIN    TEMPEST. 

be  permitted  to  go  on  a  ride  with  any  other  escort 
than  her  father.  As  for  blackboards  and  canoes,  we 
already  know  what  she  thinks  about  them.  And 
she  was  always  talking  about  chaperons.  She 
often  proposed  accompanying  the  young  people  as 
Katie's  chaperon.  So  anxious  was  she  to  fulfill 
this  office,  that  she  would  even  have  gone  on  a 
buckboard  drive  for  the  sake  of  carrying  her  point 
with  Katie  and  Mrs.  Aston.  Katie  had  asked  her 
to  go  in  a  canoe  one  day,  knowing  that  she  would 
not  do  it,  and  this  was  the  only  request  she  ever  re- 
ceived from  Katie  to  become  her  chaperon.  Had 
the  chaperoning  lain  between  a  canoe  and  a  balloon, 
she  would  have  gone  on  a  trip  to  the  clouds  with 
Katie  first.  But  she  never  ceased  talking  of  chap- 
erons, and  Katie  often  told  her  mother  that,  as 
regarded  the  freedom  of  young  girls,  her  Aunt 
Pepper  was  in  warm  sympathy  with  the  customs 
of  Brazil.  So  the  little  sour  looks  she  gave  Joe, 
and  the  little  thorny  remarks  she  made  to  him, 
preceding  the  young  people's  wanderings  over  Mt. 
Desert,  were  put  down  in  Katie's  books  to  the 
credit  of  Mrs.  Pepper's  sense  of  what  was  proper. 
Against  the  individual,  the  intrinsic  Joe  Bently, 
the  Joe  Bently  disconnected  from  his  worldly  out- 
look, Mrs.  Pepper  had  little  to  say.  He  was  too 
strongly  intrenched  in  the  esteem  of  his  friends 
for  this.  She  knew  that  his  education,  high  sense 
of  honor,  handsome,  manly  countenance,  magnifi- 


A    CABIN     TEMPEST.  315 

cent  physique,  and  other  fine  qualities,  would  in 
any  event  preserve  him  from  prejudice  and  dis- 
like. Besides,  she  had  read  the  Newcomes,  and 
was  aware  of  the  danger  in  case  of  personal  attack 
upon  Joe,  of  making  Katie  his  ally.  And  this  she 
would  not  risk  ;  at  least,  she  had  not  dared  risk  it 
yet.  So  while  she  could  not  let  Joe  altogether 
alone,  she  was  very  careful  in  what  she  said  in 
Katie's  presence  about  him.  And  above  all,  she 
had  been  watchful  to  give  Katie  no  intimation  of 
her  fears  touching  Joe's  becoming  a  permanent 
annex  of  the  Aston  household. 

Her  policy,  therefore,  with  Katie  was,  to  let  Joe 
alone  for  the  most  part,  or  when  she  disparaged 
him  to  do  so  through  his  profession.  This  she 
thought  was  her  best  card.  If  the  Navy  could  be 
held  up  to  Katie  in  its  true  light,  she  never  would 
throw  herself  away  by  marrying  into  it.  No  girl 
with  Katie's  prospects,  in  her  sober  senses,  she 
thought,  would  go  into  such  a  life,  no  matter  how 
attached  she  might  become  to  a  handsome  young 
fellow  like  Joe.  And,  she  reasoned,  by  talking 
down  the  Navy,  she  could  at  the  same  time  talk 
up  the  law.  In  producing  in  Katie's  mind  a  dis- 
like of  the  one,  she  might  at  the  same  time  create 
in  her  an  admiration  of  the  other.  At  any  rate, 
if  she  could  do  no  more  than  give  Katie's  pref- 
erence a  decided  tip  in  favor  of  the  law,  who  knew 
what  might  take  place  between  Katie  and  that  ris- 


3 16  A    CABIN    TEMPEST. 

ing  young  lawyer  of  Providence.  This  was  what 
Mrs.  Pepper  was  aiming  at,  and  she  had  hope  of 
ultimate  victory ;  though  she  had  to  confess  that 
Joe  was  giving  her  much  trouble. 

She  had  begun  to  anticipate  the  meeting  be- 
tween Katie  and  her  young  friend.  Katie  had 
promised  to  visit  her  at  her  home.  All  this  seemed 
a  wonderful  scheme  to  Mrs.  Pepper,  clever  and  far- 
seeing,  if  it  does  seem  otherwise  than  clever  and 
far-sighted  to  us. 

And  in  one  way  and  another,  Mrs.  Pepper  man- 
aged to  give  Joe  quite  a  professional  whittling  up 
without  Katie's  suspecting  her  true  purpose.  For, 
to  sum  up  this  matter,  did  not  the  shavings  she 
thus  took  from  Joe,  fall  into  a  general  heap  of  her 
whittlings  ?  And  did  not  Katie,  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  this  figure,  say  to  Miss  Maud  one 
day,  "She's  always  whittling  away  at  something 
or  somebody  like  a  boy  with  a  new  jack-knife"? 
So  things  went  on. 

But  now  the  time  had  come  for  Mrs.  Pepper  to 
do  something  more.  She  must  have  a  talk  with 
Katie  herself.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston's  eyes  had 
refused  to  be  pried  open,  and  now  Katie's  must 
undergo  an  operation.  Things  had  gotten  to  such 
a  pass  that  intervention  was  absolutely  required 
with  Katie.  As  her  aunt,  she  must  know  how 
matters  stood  with  her,  and  she  must  warn  her 
against  our  cadet.      Katie  must  not  be  allowed  to 


A    CABIN     TEMPEST.  317 

tread  so  near  the  edge  of  danger  without  informa- 
tion as  to  her  whereabouts,  and  the  dreadful  con- 
sequences of  a  tumble  over.  "  No  matter  what 
comes  of  it,"  said  Mrs.  Pepper  to  herself,  "I  won't 
stand  by  without  raising  my  voice.  She  shall  not 
throw  herself  away." 

It  happened  that,  for  two  or  three  days  after 
the  incidents  connected  with  Nubble  Hill,  there 
was  no  communication  between  the  Daybreak  and 
the  Celeste.  The  cadets  had  been  on  duty  and 
the  weather  had  been  unpropitious.  On  one  of 
these  days,  Mrs.  Pepper  and  Katie  chanced  to  be 
alone  on  board  the  yacht.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston 
had  gone  to  spend  the  day  with  some  cottager, 
and  Ned  and  Maud  were  off  at  an  Indian  encamp- 
ment buying  young  gull  skins.  Katie  had  con- 
cluded to  remain  on  board  for  the  purpose  of  clear- 
ing up  a  batch  of  correspondence,  so  long  neglected 
that  several  of  her  most  valued  friendships  were 
thereby  imperilled.  She  sat  busily  writing  at  a 
large  desk  in  the  open  cabin,  and  Mrs.  Pepper  was 
in  the  favorite  rocker,  slowly  hemming  something 
or  other. 

The  set,  rigid  look  of  her  countenance,  and 
the  mechanical  movement  of  her  needle,  indicated 
that  some  stern  purpose  was  in  her  mind.  Every 
minute  or  two  she  would  look  up  from  her  sewing 
at  Katie  as  if  she  were  waiting  an  opportunity  to 
open    conversation.       Presently    that    opportunity 


3  1 8  A    CABIN     TEMPEST. 

was  given.  All  at  once,  Katie  experienced  one  of 
those  pen-biting  pauses  which  will  come  in  letter- 
writing  as  well  as  in  the  writing  of  stories,  and 
Mrs.  Pepper  began  : 

"Katie  dear,"  said  she,  "when  is  that  trip  to 
Somes'  Sound  coming  off?" 

"I  don't  know,  Auntie,"  Katie  answered,  her 
mind  half  on  her  letter.      "I  fear  it's  given  up." 

Katie,  as  we  have  seen,  usually  called  Mrs.  Pep- 
per, Auntie.  She  was  of  a  very  loving,  forgiving 
disposition.  Mrs.  Pepper  sometimes  drew  an  an- 
gry retort  from  her,  but  she  cherished  no  grudges. 
Her  father  was  rather  amused,  on  such  occasions, 
at  the  sharpness  of  the  words  that  fell  from  the 
tip  of  her  little  tongue  ;  but  when  they  were  gone 
her  anger  was  expended,  and  she  was  generally 
sorry  for  what  she  had  said. 

"Oh!  is  it?"  said  Mrs.  Pepper.  "How  did 
that  happen  ? " 

"  I  believe  the  Daybreak's  going  out  for  target 
practice,  or  something  of  that  kind." 

"  How  much  longer  is  the  Daybreak  going  to 
be  here,  Katie  ?  " 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know.  I  hope,  though,  for 
some  time." 

"  Why  do  you  wish  that  ?  " 

"So  our  party  won't  be  broken  up." 

"  Well,  I  think  the  sooner  that  party  is  broken 
up  the  better  it  will  be  all  round." 


A    CABIN     TEMPEST.  319 

"Why,  what  do  you  mean,  Auntie?" 

"Doesn't  it  keep  the  cadets  from  their  duties  ?  " 

"  If  you  knew  how  strict  they  are  on  board  a 
man-of-war,  you'd  never  say  that."  And  Katie 
started  for  her  room  after  a  package  of  old  letters, 
wondering"  why  Mrs.  Pepper,  with  her  extreme  dis- 
like for  the  Navy,  should  take  so  great  an  inter- 
est in  the  disciplinary  well-being  of  its  young 
hopefuls.  But  as  she  began  to  rummage  her  bu- 
reau after  the  letters,  she  said  to  herself,  "Aunt 
Pepper's  jus.t  like  the  top  drawer  of  this  bureau. 
I  never  can  straighten  her  out,  no  matter  how 
much  I  try."  In  a  moment  or  two  she  was  back 
at  the  desk  overhauling  the  letters  which  she  had 
been  successful  in  finding. 

Clearing  her  throat,  Mrs.  Pepper  proceeded  the 
second  time.      "Katie  dear,  I've  seen  it  all  along." 

"  Seen  what,  Auntie  ?  "  said  Katie,  looking  up  in 
surprise. 

"The  danger  of  having  the  Daybreak  here." 

"I  don't  understand  you,  Auntie." 

"  Well,  to  be  honest  with  you,  you  may  get  to 
liking  Joe  Bently." 

From  the  glimmer  in  Katie's  eves,  to  revert  to 
what  had  come  into  Joe's  head,  she  had  gotten  a 
fire-fly  flash  of  light.  But  she  asked,  "  Why  do 
you  think  that  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  there  are  things  about  him  that  are  rather 
pleasing." 


320  A    CABIN     TEMPEST. 

Katie  looked  as  if  she  wouldn't  object  to  hear- 
ing- what  they  were. 

"It  can't  be  denied,"  continued  Mrs.  Pepper, 
"  that  he  has  a  fine  physique  and  remarkably  hand- 
some eyes." 

"He  has  fine  eyes,"  said  Katie,  with  a  twinkle 
in  her  own,  "but  Jim  Pendleton  and  Tom  Sanford 
have  got  just  as  fine." 

"Handsome  eyes  are  the  most  dangerous  things 
about  a  man's  looks,"  added  Mrs.  Pepper. 

"I  never  set  much  by  eyes,  Auntie." 

"  Oh  !  well,  a  young  girl  like  you,  dear,  can't  be 
so  much  with  a  young  fellow  like  Bently,  without 
getting  to  like  him." 

"  I  do  like  him  already  ;  we  all  like  him  very 
much.      If  we  didn't  we  shouldn't  ask  him  here." 

"  Katie,  this  is  too  serious  a  matter  for  such 
nonsense.  Think  of  how  dreadful  it  would  be  for 
a  girl  in  your  position  to  fall  in  love  with  a  young 
man  your  papa  has  helped  on  in  the  world." 

Katie  gave  Mrs.  Pepper  a  look  which  plainly 
said,  "  If  I  want  to  fall  in  love  with  Joe  Bently, 
or  anybody  else,  it's  nobody's  affair  but  papa's, 
mamma's  and  my  own." 

"  Think  of  the  life  you'd  lead  if  you  should 
marry  into  the  Navy,"  Mrs.  Pepper  went  on.  "I'd 
rather  see  you  marry  a  farmer." 

"  I've  always  aspired  to  be  mistress  of  a  dairy," 
said  the  perverse  little  Katie. 


A    CABIN     TEMPEST.  32  1 

"Katie  Aston,  you  astonish  me  by  your  levity. 
I  don't  wonder  Joe  Bently  got  notions  in  his  head." 

"What  notions,  Auntie  ?" 

"  Oh  !  that  he  sort  of  belongs  here  ;  that  all  he 
has  to  do  is  to  say  the  word  and  he  can  step  right 
into  the  family  any  time." 

Katie  gave  Mrs.  Pepper  a  wicked  little  look, 
and  said  something  to  the  effect  that  those  were 
very  queer  notions  for  a  modest  young  fellow  like 
Joe  to  have. 

"It's  no  wonder  he  thinks  so,"  said  Mrs.  Pep- 
per, an  angry  flush  coming  into  her  face;  "you 
take  him  everywhere  with  you,  and  he  almost  lives 
en  this  yacht." 

"He  has  never  come  here  without  being  urged 
to  come,"  said  Katie,  growing  serious  in  Joe's 
defense.  "  You  heard  papa  say  what  work  he  had 
to  get  him  here  the  first  time.  He  had  to  drag 
him  over." 

"  He  doesn't  have  to  drag  him  over  now,  I  no- 
tice. Give  a  naval  cadet  an  inch  and  he'll  take 
an  ell." 

"  Auntie,  to  be  plain  with  you,  you  are  very 
unkind  to  Joe.  Papa  and  mamma  think  they  never 
can  do  too  much  for  him." 

"  Why  should  they  feel  so  ?  " 

"  Didn't  he  save  my  life  ?  And  I've  heard  papa 
say  a  dozen  times,  that  he  should  always  be  wel- 
come to  come  to  see  us." 


322  A    CABIN     TEMPEST. 

"  But  anybody  would  have  saved  your  life,  dear. 
It  was  an  act  of  common  humanity." 

"  Anybody  didn't  save  it  but  Joe  ;  and  people 
always  feel  differently  toward  such  ones." 

"  That's  where  people  are  wrong.  They  let 
their  hearts  get  the  better  of  their  judgments." 

"You  talk  very  unfeelingly." 

"  So  it  would  seem.  But  this  is  a  world  of  hard 
facts,  dear,  and  we  should  never  be  carried  away 
by  sentiment." 

"  I  don't  see  any  sentiment  in  our  treatment  of 
Joe,  but  that  of  ordinary  gratitude." 

"  Well,  do  you  think  it's  proper  for  him  to  come 
here  so  much?"  said  Mrs.  Pepper,  putting  the 
question  flatly. 

"Yes;  if  he  wants  to,"  tartly  returned  Katie. 

"  I  should  think  your  father  and  mother  would 
see  that  it's  very  improper,  if  you  don't,"  Mrs. 
Pepper  went  on. 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  papa  and  mamma  don't 
know  what's  proper?"  said  Katie,  an  angry  little 
light  leaping  into  her  eyes. 

"  Yes,  dear ;  they  know  what's  proper  in  an 
abstract  sort  of  way.  But  parents  are  proverbi- 
ally blind,  you  know." 

"I  don't  think  we  shall  slam  the  door  in  Joe's 
face,  Auntie,  just  to  gratify  your  sense  of  what  is 
proper,"  shot  from  Katie  like  an  arrow. 

"He  was  very  proper  till  you  began  to  make  so 


A    CABIN     TEMPEST.  323 

much  of  him,"  said  Mrs.  Pepper  in  a  biting  tone, 
working  nearer  her  point. 

"Who  do  you  mean  by  you?" 

"Oh  !  all  of  you." 

"Auntie,  what's  the  cause  of  this  arraignment  ? 
Papa  and  mamma  never  would  have  talked  in  this 
way  to  me."  And  Katie's  little  foot  beat  the  car- 
pet, and  her  eyes  flashed  indignation  and  defiance 
at  Mrs.  Pepper. 

Mrs.  Pepper  had  gone  too  far,  and  she  saw  it ; 
but  she  was  angry  now.  She  did  not,  as  she 
ought  to  have  done,  stop  right  where  she  was  and 
not  exasperate  the  unoffending  girl  any  farther. 
So  she  asked,  in  a  tone  which  plainly  spoke  her 
opinion  as  to  the  accessibility  of  the  Aston  mind 
to  the  subject  of  Joe  Bently,  or  that  particular 
phase  of  it  so  greedy  of  her  own  attention,  "  Do 
you  wish  me  to  explain  ?  " 

"  I  don't  care." 

"To  be  perfectly  frank  with  you,"  she  began, 
controlling  her  voice  quite  well  —  "  and  I  know  you 
will  pardon  me,  for  I  have  only  your  good  at 
heart,  and  I  wouldn't  say  a  word  about  it  if  I 
didn't  feel  it  was  proper  and  my  duty  "  — 

"Please  go  on  ;  you  mix  me  all  up." 

"Well,  then,"  cruelly  fell  from  Mrs.  Pepper, 
"you  are  setting  your  cap  for  Joe  Bently ;  you  are 
throwing  yourself  at  him,  and  everybody  sees  it." 

Mrs.  Pepper  had  not  intended   saying  just  this. 


324  A    CABIN    TEMPEST. 

But  the  conversation  had  taken  a  turn  which  rather 
confirmed  her  fears  of  Katie  and  Joe.  She  thought 
she  discovered  signs  in  Katie  of  something  more 
than  a  liking  for  our  hero.  She  must  say  some- 
thing that  would  make  her  less  cordial  to  him,  thus 
forcing  upon  him  the  conviction  that  he  was  not 
so  welcome  on  board  the  Celeste  as  he  had  been. 
After  such  a  thrust  as  this,  Katie  would  be  driven 
by  pride,  she  thought,  if  nothing  else,  to  be  less 
friendly  toward  the  cadet.  And  the  different  at- 
mosphere that  would  surround  her  then  might  pro- 
duce a  chill  in  him.  He  might  thus  be  led  to  keep 
himself  somewhat  aloof  from  Katie ;  and  if,  mean- 
while, good  fortune  and  the  Navy  Department 
should  send  the  Daybreak  on  a  foreign  cruise,  the 
danger  which  now  seemed  to  threaten  the  young 
girl  might  be  wholly  averted. 

It  was  a  very  bold  step  for  Mrs.  Pepper  to  take, 
but  she  could  not  relinquish  what  she  had  set  her 
heart  upon  for  Katie.  Katie  must  be  her  contri- 
bution to  Providence  society.  Her  father  was  able 
to  provide  her  an  elegant  home  in  that  beloved 
city,  and  Mrs.  Pepper  could  then  point  to  it  all 
with  supreme  pride,  and  say  to  her  friends,  "  See 
what  a  queen  I  have  brought  you  !  "  And  she 
cherished  the  hope  that  in  the  court  of  that  same 
queen  she  herself  might  be  chief  lady.  Was  not 
this  incentive  enough  to  her  to  break  by  any  means 
the   spell   which    Katie    might    be  under  to  brass 


A    CABIN     TEMPEST.  325 

buttons  ?  So  she  went  at  poor  Katie,  utterly  des- 
titute of  the  prudence  and  diplomacy  of  that  great 
profession  in  whose  interest  she  was  so  ardently 
at  work. 

But  Mrs.  Pepper  was  not  clever.  If  she  had 
been  she  certainly  never  would  have  had  a  scheme 
at  all. 

But  Katie  —  poor  little  Katie!  No,  she  would 
not  thank  us  for  saying  this.  P"or  she  was  capa- 
ble of  taking  care  of  herself.  It  was  all  a  new 
experience  to  her,  but  she  rose  to  the  occasion. 
She  gave  Mrs.  Pepper  a  piece  of  her  mind,  and 
not  a  small  piece,  either.  A  novelist  would  work 
up  what  she  said  into  a  highly  intense  dramatic 
form,  but  Katie  would  not  suffer  it  to  be  done, 
even  if  the  writer  were  capable  of  it. 

However,  it  may  be  said,  that  while  she  ex- 
plicitly informed  Mrs.  Pepper  that  she  did  not 
love  Joe  Bently,  and  had  never  thought  of  doing 
so,  Joe  Bently  did  not  come  down  a  peg  in  her 
esteem  ;  and  Mrs.  Pepper's  treatment  of  him,  the 
meaning  of  which  was  now  as  vivid  to  her  imagi- 
nation as  the  flood  of  sunlight  which  had  just 
broken  through  the  cabin  skylight,  was  to  her  eyes, 
was  set  forth  with  a  comprehensiveness  of  grasp, 
and  a  pointedness  of  statement,  that  frightened 
that  perverse  lady.  Mrs.  Pepper  got  scratched  by 
that  cat  in  the  bag,  out  at  liberty  the  second  time 
in  the  Aston  family  through  her  foolish  fumbling 


326  A    CABIN     TEMPEST. 

with  the  strings,  a  good  deal  worse  than   she  did 
the  first  time. 

What  did  Katie  do  when  she  had  finished  with 
Mrs.  Pepper?  Why,  the  natural  thing.  She  went 
to  her  state-room,  threw  herself  down  on  her  little 
bed,  and  cried  as  if  her  heart  would  break. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 


MR.      LONG. 


A  FEW  minutes  only  did  Katie's  passion  of 
tears  last.  Then  she  bethought  herself  of 
the  red  and  swollen  eyes  that  would  be  sure  to 
follow  continued  weeping.  And  would  not  this 
betray  the  fact  to  the  rest  of  the  yacht's  company, 
when  they  should  return,  that  something  had  gone 
wrong  during  their  absence  ?  Before  she  entered 
the  state-room  she  had  resolved  that  her  parents 
should  know  nothing  of  her  trouble  with  Mrs. 
Pepper.  She  knew  if  her  father  should  discover 
that  she  had  been  crying,  in  his  sympathy  for  her, 
he  would  not  rest  until  he  knew  the  whole  story. 
This,  she  said  to  herself,  would  not  do.  She  was 
aware  that  ordinarily,  her  father  was  the  mildest 
and  least  excitable  of  men,  but  if  he  knew  of  this 
affair,  there  would  be  trouble  in  the  camp.  In 
other  words,  a  tempest  would  in  reality  shake  the 
Celeste's  cabin. 

This  Katie  knew  very  well.  And  on  no  ac- 
count would  she  arouse  her  father  against  Mrs. 
Pepper.      Had  she  been  of  a  resentful  disposition 

i  ->  7 
J-/ 


328  MR.    LONG. 

she  might  have  done  so.  She  therefore  prudently 
decided  to  let  the  comparative  harmony  hitherto 
existing  between  her  parents  and  Mrs.  Pepper 
remain  undisturbed.  Of  course  she  had  other  rea- 
sons for  doing  so,  not  the  least  of  which  was  the 
embarrassing  position  in  which  it  would  place  Joe. 
Of  Mrs.  Pepper's  interview  with  her  father  and 
mother  on  the  identical  subject  that  had  wrought 
such  havoc  with  her  feelings,  she  had  received  no 
word  of  warning.  So,  having  taken  a  look  at  her 
red  face  and  wet  eyes  in  the  truthful  mirror,  she 
saw  the  necessity  for  prompt  action. 

Katie  was  materially  aided  in  this.  No  sooner 
had  she  resorted  to  the  little  feminine  devices  well 
known  for  their  speedy  effect  in  restoring  the 
countenance  to  its  habitual  repose,  than  a  knock 
at  her  state-room  door  apprised  her  that  she  was 
wanted.  It  might  be  Mrs.  Pepper's  knock.  It 
had  a  half-penitent  sound,  and  perhaps  she  was  in 
a  mood  for  making  up.  But  Katie  was  not  ready 
for  that  just  yet ;  so  she  did  not  answer.  The 
knock  was  repeated,  this  time  accompanied  by  the 
voice  of  the  servant  girl,  Mary,  soliciting  Katie's 
presence  on  deck,  where  she  said  there  was  a 
"quare  bye"  who  desired  to  see  her. 

Assured  that  it  was  not  Mrs.  Pepper,  she  direct- 
ed Mary  to  inform  the  boy  that  she  would  be  up 
presently.  She  walked  past  her  aunt  with  some 
show  of  dignity,  wondering  who  the  "quare  bye" 


MR.    LONG.  329 

could  be.  Instantly  she  appeared  on  deck,  she 
recognized  him.  From  Joe's  descriptions,  he  was 
unmistakable.  It  was  none  other  than  Enoch 
Long  who  had  demanded  to  see  her.  Long  stood 
looking  around  him  with  the  air  of  one  who  is  per- 
fectly at  home  anywhere  on  this  planet.  His  cap 
was  canted  on  one  side  of  his  head  at  a  very  rakish 
angle,  and  he  carried  a  lump  on  one  side  of  his 
face,  which  appeared  and  disappeared  with  as  mar- 
velous dexterity  as  though  his  cheeks  were  a  pair 
of  juggler's  cups  and  his  tongue  was  skilled  in 
sleight  of  hand.  His  body  was  as  stationary  as  a 
fence  post,  while  his  head  was  turning  in  every 
direction,  in  devoted  service  to  his  eyes,  which  ran 
about  the  deck  as  though  commissioned  to  carry 
every  thing  away  with  them.  Wonder  was  in 
Long's  face,  but  composure  and  self-complacency 
were  in  his  manner. 

The  instant  he  heard  Katie's  light  step  on  the 
deck  he  turned  and  advanced  toward  her  with  an 
awkward  attempt  at  a  military  bearing.  Planting 
himself  at  a  distance  of  several  yards  from  where 
she  stood,  he  gave  her  a  military  salute.  This  was 
as  far  as  he  would  permit  himself  to  go.  He  would 
not  defer  to  the  —  to  him  —  absurd  custom  of  re- 
moving his  cap  in  the  presence  of  ladies.  In  fact, 
he  at  one  time  told  Joe  that  he  didn't  mind  "  sa- 
lutin'  a  woman  no  more'n  he  did  an  officer ;  but 
he  wouldn't  take  his  cap  off  to  no  live  woman  — 


330  MR.    LONG. 

he'd  be  hanged  if  he  would.  They  didn't  do  it 
where  he  lived,  and  he  guessed  they  knowed  what 
people  oughter  do." 

After  his  salute,  he  stood  eying  Katie  with  a 
good  deal  of  curiosity.  In  this  he  gave  no  impres- 
sion of  rudeness.  It  was  simple,  untutored  curios- 
ity in  Enoch  —  unmitigated  by  the  slightest  fear. 
He  surveyed  Katie  so  coolly  and  comically,  that 
it  served  as  a  counter-irritant,  and  before  she  knew 
it  she  was  laughing  as  uncontrollably  as  a  short 
time  before  she  had  been  weeping. 

In  a  moment,  however,  Long's  inspection  of 
Katie  was  over  with,  and,  giving  her  an  indulgent 
look,  as  much  as  to  say,  "you'll  do,"  he  introduced 
himself  as  "  Mr.  Long,  coxswain  o'  the  Daybreak's 
dinghy."  By  one  month's  exclusive  devotion  to 
duty,  and  Joe's  aid,  Long  had  mounted  to  this 
lofty  eminence,  and  he  was  so  proud  of  his  promo- 
tion that  to  the  uninitiated,  among  whom  he  sup- 
posed Katie  to  be,  he  always  introduced  himself 
as  "Mr.  Long,  coxswain  o'  the  Daybreak's  dinghy." 
After  this  introduction,  readjusting  the  lump  in 
his  cheek,  Long  began  a  conversation  by  asking, 
"Be  I  a-talkin'  to  Miss  Astin  ?" 

Katie  promptly  told  him  that  he  was. 

"Why,  waal,  I'll  be  blowed,  ef  this  'ere  hain't  a 
mighty  pooty  yort.      Ben  here  long  ?  " 

"  Not  a  great  while,"  replied  Katie,  her  amuse- 
ment in  no  decree  abating. 


MR.    LONG.  331 

"  Hired  for  the  season  ?  "  asked  Long. 

"I  suppose  she  belongs  to  my  father,"  said  Ka- 
tie, half  convulsed. 

"  By  gracious !  Does  she,  though  ?  It  must  take 
a  heap  o'  money  to  run  this  'ere  yort.  Don't  it, 
now  ? " 

"Quite  a  little  sum,  I've  no  doubt,"  Katie 
managed  to  articulate. 

"Orful  rich  man,  your  father  is.  Now  hain't 
he?" 

Never  having  felt  the  extremes  of  poverty,  Katie 
gave  Long  a  look  which  implied  that  he  might  be 
correct. 

"That  takes  elbow  grease,  I  can  tell  yer,"  said 
Long,  casting  an  admiring  eye  upon  the  bright 
work  ornamenting  the  Celeste's  deck.  "  I'd  rather 
clean  clown  two  hosses  an'  sweep  out  the  stable  to 
boot,  than  do  up  that  pin-rail,  there,"  he  added, 
pointing  to  the  object  in  question. 

"  It  does  require  a  good  deal  of  work,"  answered 
Katie. 

"By  gracious  !  but  a  yort  lays  over  a  man-o'-war, 
though!  Don't  it,  now?"  And  without  waiting 
for  Katie's  answer,  he  went  on.  "  Ef  it  warn't 
that  I'm  bound  to  the  Government  till  I'm  twenty- 
one,  I'd  ship  aboard  this  beauty,  wouldn't  I,  now? 
I  jest  would,  you  bet.      I  like  her." 

Katie  looked  her  regrets  touching  the  unfortu- 
nate deprivation  the  yacht  was  experiencing. 


332  MR.    LONG. 

"By  gracious!"  cried  Long,  his  demeanor  sud- 
denly changing  ;  "  I  was  nigh  forgittin'  what  I  came 
fur."  And  here  he  dove  his  hand  into  his  trousers 
pocket  and  pulled  out  a  small  package  of  much 
crumpled  envelopes.  "  We're  goin'  to  have  a  big 
time  aboard  the  Daybreak,  an'  Mr.  Bently  sent  me 
over  with  these  ere  invitations,"  and  he  handed 
Katie  the  package. 

Katie  at  once  proceeded  to  open  the  missive. 
It  was  an  invitation  to  be  present  at  a  reception  to 
be  given  on  board  ship  on  such  and  such  a  date. 

"  Ever  ben  to  one  o'  them  parties  aboard  a  man- 
o'-war?"  continued  Long,  when  Katie  had  finished 
the  reading. 

"I've  never  had  the  honor,"  Katie  replied. 

"  Comin',  hain't  yer  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  so,"  said  Katie,  smiling. 

Satisfied  that  she  comprehended  the  full  import 
of  his  errand,  he  asked,  "You  wouldn't  mind  my 
takin'  a  look  round  this  ere  yort,  would  yer  ?" 

"  Certainly  not,"  said  Katie  ;  "  go  about  as  much 
as  you  please." 

"  Would  it  be  askin'  too  much  to  let  me  look 
inter  the  cabin  first  ?  " 

"O,  no!  come  right  down,"  said  Katie,  with  a 
beaming  face,  leading  the  way. 

"  By  gracious  !  "  said  Long,  overcome  by  the 
splendor  of  the  cabin,  "  this  is  pooty  I  " 

Mrs.  Pepper  sat  in  her  old  place  hemming  away 


MR.    LONG.  333 

with  a  much  greater  show  of  industry  than  at  first. 
When  she  saw  that  it  was  a  common  sailor-boy 
who  had  followed  Katie  into  the  cabin,  the  usual 
cloud  gathered  upon  her  features.  This  black 
look  Katie  did  not  see.  Her  eyes  would  not  yet 
look  upon  Mrs.  Pepper.  But  the  look  was  not 
lost  upon  Long,  and  coming  nearer  to  Katie,  he 
said  in  a  substantial  Vermont  country  whisper,  his 
eyes  fixed  on  Mrs.  Pepper,  "That's  a  queer  piece." 
But  further  comment  was  lost  in  more  interesting 
phenomena  about  the  cabin. 

Long  examined  everything  about  the  cabin,  his 
satisfaction  every  now  and  then  expressed  by  his 
favorite  ejaculation.  At  first  Mrs.  Pepper  in- 
dulged in  frowns.  But  finally  she  was  forced  to 
laughter,  for  the  young  coxswain's  loquacity  was 
capable  of  overcoming  a  more  frigid  countenance 
than  was  hers.  By  and  by,  however,  as  he  con- 
tinued his  investigations,  the  cloud  returned. 

Of  all  objects  in  the  cabin,  however,  that  which 
pleased  Long  most  was  the  well-filled  cake  basket 
standing  *out  in  full  relief  upon  the  sideboard. 
Katie  discovered  the  trick  which  his  eyes  were  try- 
ing to  play  for  his  tongue,  and  she  directed  Mary 
to  bring  a  plate  and  make  a  glass  of  lemonade. 
During  the  refreshment  his  flow  of  tongue  was 
quite  incredible.  He  asked  Katie's  opinion  as  to 
the  best  kind  of  brake  to  be  used  on  the  Vermont 
hills,  and  the  handsomest  model  for  a  dinghy.      At 


334  MR-  long. 

last  he  intimated  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  cut 
his  stay  short,  as  "his  boat"  was  waiting  for  him 
alongside.  As  he  rose  to  take  his  leave  he  said, 
"Yer  hain't  no  answer  fur  Mr.  Bently  ?  " 

Mrs.  Pepper  looked  daggers  at  him. 

"  No  ;   I  believe  not,"  said  Katie. 

"But  yer  comin',  hain't  yer?" 

"I  think  it's  not  improbable,"  said  Katie  in  a 
tone  calculated  to  freeze  out  the  subject. 

"  You  don't  know  what  you'll  miss,  ef  yer  don't 
come.  We've  ben  a  sendin'  invitations  round  to 
the  hotels,  an'  all  the  tony  people'll  be  there." 

Mrs.  Pepper  gave  Long  another  vicious  look, 
and  thought  of  the  Modiste  and  the  Silk  and 
Ribbon. 

"They  don't  have  no  sich  times  in  Bar  Harbor 
every  clay.  Ef  yer  wants  to  meet  nice  people, 
you'd  better  come." 

"Yes,  I  will,"  Katie  finally  said  in  a  low  voice, 
trying,  if  possible,  to  check  Long's  steady  flow  of 
talk. 

But  nobody  ever  did  that.  "Glad  to  hear  it," 
he  went  on.  "I'll  tell  Mr.  Bently.  He  don't 
take  no  stock  in  girls  ginerally,  but  he'll  be  glad 
to  see  you ;  he  likes  you.  I  hope  that  time'll 
cheer  'im  up,  too.  He's  ben  mad  as  thunder 
fur  three  days  now,"  and  Long  looked  at  Katie  as 
if  he  wanted  her  to  ask  what  he  had  been  mad 
about. 


MR.    LONG.  33  5 

But  Katie's  interrogatives,  both  of  eyes  and 
tongue,  failed  to  give  any  signal.  "Won't  he  ever 
stop?"  she  said  to  herself,  glancing  out  of  the 
corner  of  her  eye  at  her  aunt,  and  moving  ner- 
vously toward  the  door.  She  saw  that  Mrs.  Pep- 
per's ears  were  on  the  alert,  and  that  she  was 
again  very  angry. 

"You  see,"  persisted  Long,  "I  b'long  to  Mr. 
Bently's  gun's  crew,  an'  only  yesterday  he  laid 
me   out.      By   gracious  !     didn't    he   do   it    slick  !  " 

Katie  tried  to  hurry  Long  out  of  the  cabin. 
She  feared  that  some  terrible  blast  was  coming, 
and  she  fairly  trembled ;  but  Long's  conclusion 
amounted  to  nothing  when  it  came.  He  said 
something  to  the  effect  that  Joe  had  reflected 
both  humorously  and  angrily  upon  his  abilities  in 
ordnance.  And  he  wound  up  by  telling  Katie  in 
substance,  that  Joe  had  insisted  that  his  (Long's) 
place  in  life  was  abaft  a  pair  of  blow-handles  or 
abreast  an  ox  team,  but  that  he  and  Mr.  Bently 
didn't  agree  in  everything. 

Enoch  insisted  on  shaking  hands  with  Katie  be- 
fore leaving  the  cabin,  but  he  only  scowled  at  Mrs. 
Pepper.  Katie  hardly  dared  to  trust  her  little 
hand  where  the  two  seas  of  Enoch's  squeeze  met, 
but  she  bravely  launched  it  into  the  hollow  of  his 
palm,  and  as  good  luck  would  have  it,  recovered  it 
without  disaster.  After  telling  Katie,  just  outside 
the   cabin   door,   that  he  liked  her  and  liked  the 


336  MR.    LONG. 

yacht,  but  didn't  like  "that  woman,"  he  bit  off  a 
huge  piece  of  tobacco  from  a  Navy  plug  he  car- 
ried in  his  pocket,  and  took  his  departure. 

Delivered  from  this  strange  visitor,  Katie  made 
her  way  to  her  state-room,  first  gathering  up  her 
writing  materials  from  the  cabin  desk  to  carry  with 
her.  But  one  or  two  attempts  to  finish  the  letter 
she  had  been  at  work  upon  convinced  her  that  she 
was  in  no  mood  for  writing.  So  she  drew  away 
her  chair  to  a  place  where  she  could  sit  and  gaze 
out  upon  the  harbor  through  the  open  port.  And 
there  she  sat,  going  over  the  whole  ground  in  her 
thoughts,  of  what  she  had  passed  through  that 
morning. 

Meanwhile  the  Celeste  swung  to  her  anchor, 
bringing  the  Daybreak  into  full  view.  Up  to  this 
time  the  Daybreak  had  been  completely  hidden. 
It  happened  by  the  swinging  of  the  yacht  that 
Katie's  thoughts  were  rendered  the  more  vivid  ; 
for  right  before  her  eyes,  slowly  passing  back  and 
forth  on  the  Daybreak's  topgallant  forecastle,  was 
the  principal  subject  of  them.  It  was  Joe's  fore- 
noon watch,  and  he  was  in  his  old  and  favorite 
place.  Every  now  and  then  he  turned  his  eyes 
toward  the  Celeste,  bestowing  upon  her,  Katie 
thought,  a  not  unwistful  look. 

Katie's  mind  had  by  no  means  recovered  from 
the  hurt  it  had  received.  And  with  Joe  plainly 
visible  a  few  cable-lengths  away,  she  found  herself 


MR.    LONG.  337 

wondering  if  he  could  ever  have  gotten  any  such 
idea  into  his  head  about  her,  as  had  found  lodg- 
ment in  Mrs.  Pepper's  brain.  "  No,"  she  said  to 
herself,  "  he's  too  noble  and  high-minded  to  put 
any  such  interpretation  upon  my  conduct  toward 
him.  He  would  resent  this  accusation,  if  he  knew 
it,  as  strongly  as  I  do."  She  soon  settled  with 
herself  that  it  would  be  simply  impossible  for  Joe 
to  regard  her  as  Mrs.  Pepper  did.  He  knew  the  in- 
timate terms  they  had  been  on  meant  nothing  more 
on  her  part  than  a  sincere  and  trustful  friendship. 
And  she  knew  that  in  his  kindly  bearing  toward 
her  he  was  only  modestly  striving  to  reciprocate 
her  cordiality  and  good-will  in  terms  of  equal 
friendship. 

So  as  she  thought  it  all  over,  she  saw  that  there 
had  been  nothing  whatever  in  her  relations  with 
Joe  which  could  furnish  any  but  a  mischievous 
mind  with  such  a  charge  as  had  been  made.  And 
the  more  she  thought  it  over  the  more  indignant 
she  became.  The  idea  that  she,  Katie  Aston, 
should  ever  set  her  cap  for  anybody  !  This  was 
what  rankled  in  her  breast  !  And  as  Mrs.  Pepper's 
ugly  remark  kept  pushing  itself  into  the  forefront 
of  her  thoughts,  how  red  her  face  became,  and  how 
her  little  foot,  as  it  had  done  before,  beat  the  deck 
in  her  indignation  !  How  humiliated  she  felt  that 
anybody,  even  Mrs.  Pepper,  could  indulge  such  a 
thought  of  her  !     Katie  knew  her  father's  wealth, 


33§  MR.    LONG. 

knew  her  own  prospects  in  life,  had  had  many 
evidences  of  her  importance  as  things  go  in  this 
world,  and  now  to  have  this  thing  flung  at  her,  it 
sorely  wounded  her  pride ;  it  raised  her  anger  to  a 
stormy  pitch  !  For  an  instant  she  even  felt  a  little 
rising  of  ill-humor  against  Joe,  whose  coming  had 
been  the  occasion  of  her  aunt's  malicious  comment 
upon  her. 

But  she  felt  that  this  was  most  ungenerous. 
What  had  Joe  done  that  she  should  ever  have  an 
unkind  feeling  toward  him  ?  He  was  still  in  plain 
view,  walking  slowly  up  and  down,  declaring  even 
in  his  unconscious  bearing  the  honesty  and  man- 
liness of  his  nature.  As  Katie  looked  upon  him 
she  was  conscious  of  a  feeling  of  pride  in  him  as  a 
young  man  in  whose  material  welfare  her  father 
had  so  much  interested  himself  ;  and  she  felt  glad 
of  his  friendship.  How  sorry  she  was  for  what 
had  happened  to  disturb  their  kindly  relations. 

The  new  set  of  emotions  which  the  sight  of  Joe 
had  awakened  completely  subdued  her  anger. 
She  was  now  pitying  both  herself  and  him.  They 
had  been  badly  treated,  and  they  had  cause  for 
common  sympathy.  "  Of  course,"  she  thought, 
"he  can't  sympathize  with  me,  for  he  won't  ever 
know  anything  about  it ;  but  I  can  sympathize 
with  him  all  the  same." 

She  found  herself  heartily  espousing  Joe's 
cause ;  she  felt    that  he  had  been  really  abused. 


MR.    LONG.  339 

As  her  eye  followed  him,  she  noted  that  he 
seemed  to  be  thinking  upon  something  or  other 
as  intently  as  she  was  doing  upon  what  lay  before 
her  mind.  Something  in  his  appearance  went 
straight  home  to  her  sympathy.  Indeed,  and  she 
couldn't  tell  why  it  was,  her  sympathy  had  been 
recently  drawn  out  toward  Joe  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  There  had  been  something  about  him 
that  appealed  to  the  deeper,  perhaps  tenderer  side 
of  her  nature.  She  had  not  pretended  to  account 
for  it  ;  she  had  not  tried  to  account  for  it.  It 
was  not  his  terrible  experience  with  that  Annap- 
olis girl  that  so  touched  her  with  a  feeling  for  the 
soreness  of  heart  which,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  must  have  been  left  in  him.  No,  that  wasn't 
it.  For  ever  since  that  conversation  up  the 
Nubble  that  Annapolis  girl  had  been  less  of  a 
reality  to  Katie.  She  had  seemed  more  like  a 
touching  little  story  from  the  Mythology  she  had 
been  reading  ;  painful,  but  unreal.  At  any  rate,  as 
she  now  gazed  upon  him,  she  thought  it  altogether 
too  bad  that  a  restraint  would  have  to  be  put  upon 
their  warm,  simple  friendship. 

For  would  not  this  have  to  be  done  ?  she  asked 
herself  over  and  over  again.  If  people  had  got  to 
thinking  about  her  as  Mrs.  Pepper  did,  how  could 
she  be  just  the  same  to  him  as  she  had  been  ? 
She  must  protect  herself  against  unjust  criticism. 

She   would    have  to   be   more    reserved    in    his 


340  MR.    LONG. 

presence ;  keep  him  off  a  little.  But  if  she  had 
been  giving  a  false  impression  of  her  state  of  mind 
toward  him,  why  had  not  her  parents  been  as 
quick  to  see  it  as  anybody  else  ?  Then  she 
remembered  Mrs.  Pepper's  remark  that  parents 
are  proverbially  blind.  She  wondered  if  her  father 
and  mother  did  not  really  understand  this  affair, 
and  her  answer  was,  "  Of  course  papa  and  mamma 
know  all  about  it.  They  know  that  Joe  and  I 
never  dreamed  of  being  anything  to  each  other 
but  friends." 

But  how  should  she  treat  Joe  in  the  future  ? 
This  was  the  question  now  pressing  for  an  answer. 
Ought  she  to  see  him  less  often  ?  And  when  they 
happened  to  be  thrown  together,  must  she  show 
him  that  their  friendship  had  been  running  too 
much  according  to  its  own  sweet  will,  and  needed 
a  little  pruning  ?  Would  this  be  fair  to  Joe  ? 
Would  it  not  convey  to  him  the  idea  that  he  had 
in  some  way  been  presuming  upon  her  gracious- 
ness,  and  she  found  it  necessary  to  teach  him  a 
lesson  ?  This  would  amount  to  an  unkindness. 
Poor  Joe  !  she  couldn't  turn  on  him  in  that  way. 
He  had  been  so  unpresuming,  so  genuinely 
modest,  had  had  such  a  high  ideal  of  what  he 
owed  to  her  as  a  friend,  that  she  could  not  now 
find  it  in  her  heart  to  do  anything  that  would  give 
him  pain. 

And  Katie  thought  to  herself,  like  the  sensible, 


MR.    LONG.  341 

tender-hearted  girl  that  she  was,  that  she  would 
not  be  any  different  to  Joe  from  what  she  had 
been.  What  if  people  should  say  that  she  was 
setting  her  cap  for  him  ;  that  wouldn't  make  it  so. 
People  said  anything  that  came  into  their  heads. 
So  long  as  her  papa  and  mamma,  and  Ned  and 
Maud,  and  Joe  and  herself  knew  that  it  was  only 
friendship  between  them,  why  should  she  care 
what  others  thought?  "No,"  she  said  almost 
audibly,  taking  another  kindly  look  at  Joe  through 
her  state-room  port,  "  I  won't  make  him  unhappy 
the  little  time  he  has  left  in  Bar  Harbor.  At  best, 
his  life  will  be  hard  enough  when  he  gets  away. 
I  won't  send  along  a  batch  of  unpleasant  memo- 
ries to  make  it  any  harder." 

And  thus  Katie,  for  the  moment,  decided  that 
she  would  be  Joe's  friend  just  the  same  as  ever. 

But  this  decision  did  not  close  the  chapter  of 
her  thoughts  about  Joe,  by  any  means.  Her  mind 
had  been  stirred  up  to  go  over  the  whole  subject 
of  Joe  Bently.  Presently  a  suggestion  came  which 
made  her  decision  for  the  time  being  seem  a  little 
premature.  It  clothed  the  affair  in  quite  a  differ- 
ent hue,  and  gave  her  some  little  concern. 

If  she  should  be  just  the  same  to  Joe,  might  it 
not  be  putting  him  at  some  little  risk  ?  Katie  did 
not  have  a  superfluous  amount  of  egotism,  but  she 
was  aware  that  peculiarly  susceptible  natures  in 
the  opposite  sex  might  be  smitten    even    by  her 


342  MR.    LONG. 

charms.  And  she  now  asked  whether  Joe  him- 
self could  be  in  any  such  danger  from  her.  Since 
her  adoption  of  the  mythical  theory  in  regard  to 
the  Annapolis  girl,  she  had  thought  several  times 
whether  it  could  be  possible  that  Joe's  friendship 
for  her  was  deeper  than  it  seemed.  It  was  a  true, 
and  she  felt  from  Joe's  high  character,  even  a 
beautiful  friendship,  transparent  as  clearest  water. 
But  clear  water  deceives.  She  remembered  that 
she  had  looked  into  many  a  spring,  the  translu- 
cency  of  whose  water  had  seemed  to  bring  the 
far-away  bottom  so  near  that  she  could  almost 
touch  it  with  her  hand.  Was  Joe's  friendship  for 
her  like  this  ? 

Then  she  thought  of  it  in  another  way.  From 
all  she  had  ever  learned  of  the  natural  history  of 
such  cases,  when  a  tender  feeling  for  some  maiden 
possesses  a  young  man's  heart,  it  always  gives 
some  little  sign  of  its  existence.  It  might  be 
timid  as  a  bird,  but  once  in  a  while  it  would  be 
sure  to  hop  out  on  some  little  twig  of  a  word 
where  it  could  be  seen.  Or  some  glance  might 
part  the  leaves  of  the  mystery  and  show  it  hiding 
in  its  little  nest.  Katie  had  to  smile  at  this  con- 
ceit, though  in  all  seriousness  it  had  entered  her 
mind.  And  this  time  also,  all  things  considered, 
she  concluded  it  would  be  no  risk  to  Joe  if  she 
permitted  herself  to  keep  right  on  with  him  as  she 
had  been  doins:. 


MR.    LONG.  343 

But  another  phase  of  the  question  presented 
itself.  How  about  herself  ?  Was  there  any  dan- 
ger in  her  case  ?  Was  every  approach  to  her  heart 
closed  to  the  young  cadet  ? 

She  liked  him  —  admired  him,  and  was  even 
fond  of  him,  but  did  she  really  love  him  ?  No, 
she  did  not !  She  laid  this  down  with  emphasis. 
She  was  too  busy  with  her  papa  and  mamma,  her 
friend  Maud,  her  pets  —  among  which  was  the  yacht 
itself  —  her  plans  and  her  many  occupations,  to  give 
scarcely  any  attention  to  the  subject  upon  which 
the  whole  world  runs  mad.  We  must  remember 
that  Katie  is  hardly  out  of  her  girlhood  yet.  But 
she  really  felt,  though  she  had  such  an  interest  in 
Joe,  that  she  did  not  have  affection  for  him ;  the 
kind,  at  least,  that  spells  itself  with  four  letters. 
And  Katie  did  not  feel  that  she  was  in  any  dan- 
ger of  losing  her  heart  to  Joe.  She  cherished 
a  greater  liking  for  him  than  she  had  ever  known 
for  any  other  young  man.  Those  fine  eyes 
and  that  magnificent  physique  had  appealed  won- 
drously  to  her  in  an  artistic  sense  ;  the  power  Joe 
had  of  touching  the  higher,  better  side  of  human 
nature  she  had  felt  the  force  of  ;  but  she  could  not 
say  she  loved  him.  And  she  did  not  feel  she  could 
love  him  in  the  sense  in  which  she  well  knew  he 
deserved  to  be  loved- 

For,  to  tell  the  truth,  Katie  felt  that  Joe  was 
on    too    high   a   pinnacle    for   her   to    reach.      He 


344  MR-  long. 

met  her  ideals,  but  did  not  exactly  suit  her  tem- 
perament. This  was  why  she  now  felt,  though 
she  did  not  attempt  to  explain  it  to  herself,  that 
she  could  maintain  the  invulnerability  of  her 
heart  against  him.  Had  Joe  possessed  a  little 
more  of  the  every-day  sort  of  human  nature, 
Katie's  heart  then  could  have  no  more  stood 
against  him  than  a  blossom  can  stand  against  a 
strong  wind.  But  Joe  did  not  have  this  every-day 
sort  of  human  nature.  As  Katie  finished  this 
colloquy  with  herself  she  was  in  quite  a  cheery 
mood. 

And  she  summed  it  all  up  with  the  declara- 
tion, "Joe  and  I  can  be  the  best  of  friends,  with 
not  the  least  danger  of  becoming  lovers." 

Thinking  upon  the  absurd  ideas  people  have 
about  the  perils  of  such  a  friendship  as  existed 
between  her  and  the  young  cadet,  she  was  now 
ready  to  sit  down  to  the  solitary  lunch  which  she 
had  ordered  in  her  room.  Her  aunt,  meanwhile, 
took  hers  in  equal,  but  less  happy  solitude,  from 
the  table  out  in  the  cabin. 

When,  toward  evening,  the  absentees  had  all 
returned,  Mr.  Aston  and  Ned  had  a  great  scheme 
to  propose ;  which,  when  proposed,  caused  Mrs. 
Pepper  to  exclaim,  "Oh!  mercy  on  us,"  but 
brought  a  look  of  pleasure  into  every  other  face. 
The  scheme  was  simply  this  :  Some  time  the  com- 
ing week  the  yacht  was  to  go  out  for  a  few  days' 


MR.    LONG.  345 

trip  at  sea.  Mr.  Aston  had  met  Captain  Farradale 
ashore,  and  had  received  the  promise  from  him  that 
the  two  cadets  should  have  a  leave  of  several  days, 
and  invitations  were  to  be  sent  them  next  morning: 
to  join  the  jubilant  company  for  a  sniff  of  real 
salt  air  in  Katie's  "golden  lily  "  of  a  yacht. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

THE    DAYBREAK'S    RECEPTION. 

THE  course  of  true  friendship,  like  that  of  true 
love,  does  not  always  run  smoothly.  This, 
at  least,  Katie  came  to  know.  For  an  entire  week 
no  opportunity  offered  to  prove  to  our  hero  the 
wonderful  things  her  new,  reawakened  friendship 
designed  doing  for  him. 

She  had  defended  him  in  a  most  friendly  manner 
during  the  interview  with  Mrs.  Pepper.  And 
she  had  likewise  resolved  that  as  soon  as  possible 
she  would  renew  her  friendship  with  Joe,  and 
right  before  her  aunt's  eyes,  too.  She  would  let 
her  see  that  that  friendship  had  survived  the  storm 
through  which  it  had  passed.  The  beautiful  flower 
still  lived.  Not  a  stem  had  been  broken,  not  a 
leaf  torn  away.  And  Joe  should  be  acquainted 
with  the  fact,  too,  even  though  he  was  to  know 
nothing  of  all  that  had  happened  to  give  it  its 
renewed  freshness.  O,  yes  !  In  the  kindness  of 
her  heart  Katie  purposed  doing  wonderful  things 
for  our  cadet. 

It  must  also  be  confessed  that  aside  from  this 
346 


THE    DAYBREAK  S    RECEPTION.  347 

warmer,  tenderer  feeling  she  treasured  for  Joe, 
there  was  likewise  a  somewhat  reverse  spirit  felt 
toward  Mrs.  Pepper.  Katie  meant  to  let  her  know 
that  she  would  do  as  she  pleased  about  Joe  Bently. 
Mrs.  Pepper  wasn't  her  guardian,  and  this  affair 
was  no  concern  of  hers,  either.  In  her  more  vin- 
dictive moods  she  felt  as  if  she  would  like  to 
engage  in  a  desperate  flirtation.  But  she  was  too 
warm  a  friend  to  Joe.  So  she  simply  resolved  that 
her  auntie  should  see  that  all  her  talk  had  made 
no  difference  whatever  in  her  treatment  of  him. 

The  great  obstacle,  however,  in  carrying  out 
this  plan  was  Joe  himself.  For  one  whole  week 
he  did  not  show  himself  on  board  the  yacht.  How 
to  account  for  his  absence  was  a  sore  puzzle. 
And  more  perplexing  yet,  he  had  declined  Mr. 
Aston's  invitation  to  become  a  member  of  the 
yachting  party.  He  simply  stated  by  note  that  he 
should  be  obliged  to  forego  the  pleasure,  as  he 
had  made  arrangements  to  spend  the  time  ap- 
pointed for  the  Celeste's  trip  on  a  visit  to  his  own 
home.  Joe's  conduct  was  as  disappointing  as  it 
was  mysterious  to  the  young  people.  All  this 
had  the  effect,  however,  of  somewhat  cooling 
Katie's  ardor,  as  well  as  frustrating  her  plans. 
Harry  tried  to  make  things  appear  as  well  as 
possible.  During  the  week  of  Joe's  seclusion  from 
the  social  world,  he  made  several  calls  upon  his 
cousin.      He  told   Katie  that  Joe  was   completely 


348  the  daybreak's  reception. 

absorbed  in  his  studies,  getting  ready  for  his 
examination,  two  years  ahead.  He  said  he  sat  up 
late  every  night  boning  away  on  Electric  Potential. 
Electric  Potential  meant  very  little  to  Katie,  save 
as  excuse  for  Joe's  singularities.  But  it  served 
as  well  as  another  to  relieve  her  own  mind. 
Mathematics,  she  had  been  told,  is  at  the  bottom 
of  all  naval  eccentricities. 

Harry  also  undertook  to  clear  up  Joe's  sudden 
resolve  to  visit  the  Aroostook.  He  suggested  to 
Katie  that  Joe's  mother  might  be  quite  ill.  She 
had  been  ill,  he  said,  for  Joe  had  told  him  so.  It 
must  be  something  of  that  kind,  he  insisted,  or 
Bently  would  never  have  given  up  the  yachting 
trip,  the  crowning  event  of  their  season  at  Bar 
Harbor.  This  seemed  quite  plausible  to  Katie, 
but  it  did  not  altogether  satisfy  her. 

Had  Katie  known  what  passed  between  the 
cadets  just  after  Joe  sent  his  note  declining  her 
papa's  invitation,  what  would  she  have  thought  of 
Edgerton's  apologies  for  his  friend  ?  There  had 
been  a  scene  in  the  Daybreak's  steerage.  Joe's 
withdrawal  from  the  party  had  been  a  bitter  dis- 
appointment to  Plarry.  He  didn't  care  a  fig  to  go 
without  Joe  ;  indeed,  he  did  not  want  to  go  with- 
out him,  he  said.  And  when  he  found  what  Joe 
had  done,  he  went  at  him  in  his  peculiar  manner. 
They  were  alone  in  the  steerage. 

"Joey  B.,"  said   he,  as  usual  asserting  his  fond- 


THE  DAYBREAK  S  RECEPTION.        349 

ness  for  striking  epithets,  "  you're  an  ass  !  "  And 
when  Joe,  in  concern  for  his  self-respect,  hinted 
that  an  explanation  was  in  order,  Harry  continued  : 
"You're  the  worst  kind  of  an  ass.  I  didn't 
believe  it  possible  that  you  could  develop  such 
long  ears." 

Joe  flushed,  but  made  no  reply. 

"  It  was  all  done  on  your  account,  anyway," 
Harry  went  on,  perceiving  the  painful  laboring  of 
Joe's  emotions.  "  Mr.  Aston  didn't  care  a  pica- 
yune for  Brentford  and  me.  He  wanted  to  show 
you  his  yacht  at  sea,  and  you've  made  a  nice  mess 
of  it." 

"  I  didn't  look  at  it  in  that  way,"  said  Joe, 
wincing. 

"  You're  way  of  looking  at  things,  lately,  has 
been  mighty  mysterious,  Joey." 

Joe  began  to  question  if  his  angle  of  vision  had 
not  been  somewhat  distorted. 

"  The  first  thing  you  know,  the  Astons  will 
throw  you  overboard,  neck  and  heels.  They 
won't  stand  any  nonsense,  I  can  tell  you.  They're 
not  the  people  to  do  it.  You've  treated  them 
outrageously.  The  only  one  you've  been  decent 
to  is  Mrs.  Pepper,  and  she  wouldn't  lift  a  finger  to 
get  you  out  of  Purgatory." 

"  No,"  Joe  thought,  "  but  she'd  use  both  hands 
to  get  me  in." 

"You  were  positively  rude  to  Katie  Aston   that 


350  THE    DAYBREAKS    RECEPTION. 

night  we  came  back  from  the  Nubble,"  added 
Harry,  waxing  warmer.  "  If  she's  the  girl  I  think 
she  is,  she'll  get  even  with  you."  And  with  an- 
other attempt  to  establish  identity  between  our 
hero  and  the  little  animal  whose  contrariness  and 
secretiveness  he  now  represented,  to  Harry's  mind, 
if  nothing  more,  that  young  gentleman  left  the 
steerage  in  disgust. 

Harry's  talk  was  not  altogether  new  to  Joe; 
nevertheless,  it  cast  him  into  deep  trouble.  He 
looked  somewhat  as  Schopy  had  often  done  when 
Coverly  took  occasion  to  compare  the  vital  statistics 
of  Bar  Harbor  with  those  of  Rio  Janeiro,  to  which 
latter  place,  he  always  insisted,  the  Daybreak 
would  be  ordered  in  time  to  assist  at  the  inaugu- 
ration of  the  next  yellow  fever  season.  Joe  was 
really  in  a  dreadful  state  of  mind.  He  had  never 
been  quite  so  wrought  up  before.  What  would 
he  not  now  have  given,  could  he  have  recalled  that 
note  ?  Had  it  been  really  a  disappointment  to 
Mr.  Aston  ?  Would  he  think  he  had  been  un- 
grateful toward  him  ?  He  almost  wished  the  Day- 
break had  been  sunk  by  an  iceberg  before  ever 
she  saw  Bar  Harbor. 

Joe  was  getting  so  excited  over  the  matter  that 
he  was  obliged  to  resort  to  something  or  other  to 
restore  his  mental  equilibrium  ;  so  he  took  down 
his  Integral  Calculus  and  went  to  work  upon  Gam- 
ma Functions.      But  his  mind  could  get  no  hold 


THE    DAYBREAK'S    RECEPTION.  35  I 

here.  He  turned  for  relief  to  a  work  on  Physics, 
and  attacked  that  inscrutable  Second  Law  of  Ther- 
mo-dynamics.  The  wonder  was  that  he  stopped 
short  of  Electric  Potential,  but  he  did.  He  saw 
it  was  no  use  ;  his  intellect  had  lost  its  power. 

In  his  despair,  he  threw  himself  down  on  the 
transom.  Perhaps  he  could  drown  his  trouble  in 
a  nap.  He  had  had  the  midwatch  the  night 
before,  but  he  finally  succeeded  in  falling  asleep; 
yet,  to  carry  out  the  figure,  he  found  that  his 
trouble  could  live  under  water  as  well  as  above  it. 
It  certainly  did  live  in  a  short  dream  he  had,  from 
which  he  presently  awoke  as  from  a  nightmare. 
His  troubles  seemed  to  have  become  a  solid  weight 
holding  him  down.  Coverly,  however,  may  have 
had  a  hand  in  creating  in  him  a  sense  of  their 
ponderable  nature.  Upon  entering  the  steerage, 
that  young  officer  found  Bently  lying  on  his  back 
fast  asleep,  and  it  seemed  a  good  chance  to  test 
the  strength  of  his  costal  cartilages.  He  therefore 
took  down  a  large  tin  box,  containing  the  metallic 
ornaments  of  his  full-dress  uniform,  and  other 
heavy  articles,  and  set  it  upon  Joe's  breast.  It 
was  only  one  more  illustration  of  what  had  oc- 
curred to  Joe  several  times  :  that  when  a  cadet  is 
in  trouble,  everything  and  everybody  seem  in  con- 
spiracy against  him. 

But  to  those  who  have  followed  him  closely, 
Joe's  conduct  does  not  seem  so  strange.    He  came 


352  THE    DAYBREAKS    RECEPTION. 

back  from  that  last  excursion  with  the  young  peo- 
ple under  a  positive  conviction  that  the  time  had 
come  for  the  breaking  off  of  his  intimate  relations 
with  the  Astons.  He  had  already  gone  too  far. 
He  had  permitted  himself  to  see  too  much  of  Katie. 
It  was  placing  her  in  a  false  position.  People 
would  soon  be  talking  about  them  as  lovers,  if 
they  were  not  already  doing  so.  And  this  would 
be  simply  terrible.  He  must,  during  the  rest  of 
his  stay  at  Bar  Harbor,  absolutely  hold  himself 
aloof  from  Katie.  If  he  did  not  himself  take  the 
initiative  in  this  matter,  Mr.  Aston  doubtless  soon 
would.  In  that  case,  how  could  he  ever  hold  up 
his  head  again  ? 

"I  might  just  as  well  give  up  all  hope  of  Katie, 
first  as  last,"  he  said  to  himself.  "Even  if  every- 
thing were  all  right  with  her,  my  hands  are  so  tied 
it  would  do  me  no  good.  Before  making  a  single 
move  toward  winning  her,  I  would  have  to  ask 
her  father's  permission,  and  that  would  settle  the 
matter  for  me  beyond  all  peradventure." 

Joe  thought  there  was  about  as  much  chance  of 
obtaining  Mr.  Aston's  permission  to  win  his  pretty 
daughter,  if  he  could,  as  there  would  be  of  getting 
into  the  President's  cabinet  upon  his  personal  ap- 
plication. And  Joe  was  sure  he  would  suffer  mar- 
tyrdom before  he  would  tell  Katie  a  word  of  the 
secret  in  his  heart  without  her  father's  full  consent 
to  do  so. 


THE  DAYBREAKS  RECEPTION.        353 

Filled  with  such  convictions,  he  had  come  back 
from  the  hill  with  two  thoughts  sunk  deep  in  his 
consciousness.  The  first  was,  that  if  the  Navy  had 
ever  glittered  in  Katie's  eyes,  it  had  been  like 
objects  which  often  sparkle  in  the  distance,  but  at 
a  nearer  approach  utterly  fail  in  their  power  of 
reflection.  What  had  been  quite  bright  to  Katie, 
must  now  from  a  nearer  view  seem  rather  dull  and 
opaque.  And  the  second  was  what  we  already 
know  —  that  the  three  members  of  the  Aston 
family  regarded  him  as  the  poor,  but  worthy  young 
man — a  very  interesting  object  of  their  charity. 
Therefore,  why  should  he  keep  on  doing  as  he  had 
done  since  coming  to  Bar  Harbor  ?  Why  make  it 
harder  to  give  Katie  up  ?  Why  wait  for  Katie's 
parents  to,  in  a  sense,  cast  him  off  ?  This  was 
why  Joe  turned  over  that  new  leaf  with  himself, 
putting  upon  it  the  weight  of  a  firm  resolution,  so 
that  no  little  breeze  of  an  impulse  could  cause  it 
to  flutter  back  again.  And  this  was  also  why  he 
declined  Mr.  Aston's  invitation,  and  brought  his 
calls  upon  his  friends  to  such  an  untimely  end  — 
untimely,  at  least,  from  their  point  of  view.  Poor 
Joe  ! 

Katie  did  not  see  Joe  again  until  she  met  him 
at  Enoch  Long's  "big  time,"  or,  at  the  reception 
on  board  the  Daybreak.  This  reception  was  wor- 
thy of  the  officers  and  the  ship.  Lieutenan": 
Bloomsbury,   Harry   and   Joe   had   charge   of    the 


354  THE    DAYBREAKS    RECEPTION. 

decorations  ;  consequently  the  Daybreak  was  put 
in  her  best  attire.  Every  number,  pennant,  ensign 
and  flag,  was  broken  out  to  do  duty  in  this  work. 
It  was  quite  surprising  how,  from  this  great  mass 
of  bunting,  littering  the  deck  like  so  many  tangled 
rainbows,  a  brilliant  reception  room  or  hall  was 
improvised  ;  more  striking  in  its  appearance  than 
if  it  had  been  enclosed  by  walls  instead  of  by 
bulwarks. 

Everybody  from  the  yacht  was  there.  Mrs. 
Pepper  did  not  cease  to  declare  that  she  would  not 
go  to  a  reception  given  to  hotel  people,  but  at  the 
last  minute  she  changed  her  mind. 

She  was  much  pleased,  however,  to  note  that 
there  was  not,  as  she  put  it,  such  an  enormous 
catch  from  the  hotels,  after  all.  Boy  Long's 
allusion  to  the  "tony  people  "  misled  Mrs.  Pepper. 
And  to  press  the  figure  a  little  which  had  entered 
her  mind,  the  line  had  been  used  as  well  as  the 
seine,  as  the  presence  of  some  pretty  big  fish 
before  her  attested. 

Establishing,  or  rather  planting,  herself  in  what 
might  be  termed  a  trysting  place,  built  in  alongside 
a  heavy  gun,  somewhat  hidden  from  the  guests, 
with  great  delight  she  proceeded  to  make  out,  as 
far  as  she  was  able,  who  the  big  fish  were.  Only 
two  or  three  of  them  were  known  to  her  per- 
sonally ;  but  she  was  enabled,  as  she  afterwards 
told   Mrs.   Aston,  to  identify  the  Cleftstones,   the 


THE  DAYBREAKS  RECEPTION.        355 

Thirlstones  and  the  Devilstones,  the  Witchclyffs, 
the  Wyandottes  and  the  Birchpoints.  But  the 
little  fish,  though  they  might  have  been  interesting 
from  very  prodigality  of  numbers,  like  small  fry 
generally,  she  wouldn't  look  at.  Thus  she  con- 
tinued to  amuse  herself  till  Joe  found  her  out. 

Joe  had  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  devote 
himself  to  the  elderly  ladies  at  this  reception,  and 
that  he  would  begin  with  Mrs.  Pepper.  He  thought 
that  Mrs.  Pepper,  as  his  guest,  had  the  first  claim 
upon  him.  On  such  an  occasion  as  this,  at  least,  it 
was  his  duty  to  love  his  enemies,  so  he  started 
in  search  of  her.  He  hunted  almost  everywhere 
before  he  found  her  in  the  aforesaid  trysting 
place,  apparently  bent  on  diverting  it  from  its 
original  intention.  Before  he  had  become  aware 
that  she  was  making  a  recluse  of  herself,  he  feared 
she  had  not  come.  His  anxiety  on  this  behalf 
afforded  him  some  surprise  and  a  very  little  amuse- 
ment. By  no  means  did  Joe  want  Mrs.  Pepper  to 
stay  away.  He  had  lumped  her  in,  so  to  speak, 
with  his  friends,  and  would  have  been  disappointed 
had  she  not  been  present. 

He  greeted  her  with  unusual  cordiality,  and 
expressed  the  hope  that  she  was  having  a  good 
time.  When  she  imparted  to  him  the  information 
that  she  was  having  a  better  time  than  she  expect- 
ed, he  proceeded  to  place  himself  at  her  disposal. 
He  asked   if  he  might  not  have  the  pleasure  of  a 


356  the  daybreak's  reception. 

dance  with  her  first  of  all.  This  seemed  to  please 
her,  but  she  hinted  that  at  her  time  of  life  it  would 
hardly  be  proper.  She  compromised  the  matter, 
however,  by  immediately  seizing  his  arm  for  a 
promenade  about  the  deck.  As  luck  would  have 
it,  the  first  ones  they  met  were  Katie  and  Harry. 
Joe's  face  was  crimsoned  by  a  vicious  little  grin 
Harry  gave  him,  and  a  wicked  little  look  that 
slipped  out  of  the  corner  of  Katie's  eye.  Joe  had 
previously  told  Harry  that  he  wanted  him  to  show 
Mrs.  Pepper  some  attention,  as  in  the  crush  she 
might  easily  be  overlooked.  Harry  repelled  him 
by  the  rude  remark,  "  O,  no,  Joey !  not  while  the 
girls  hold  out." 

Joe  burned  with  indignation,  too,  against  Enoch 
Long.  That  young  prodigy  had  taken  his  point 
of  observation  just  aft  of  the  smoke-stack,  whence 
he  was  looking  on  with  mouth  wide  open  and  eyes 
a-stare.  When  he  caught  sight  of  Mrs.  Pepper 
hanging  on  Joe's  arm,  he  astounded  Joe  by  shaking 
his  fist  at  her.  Promising  in  his  wrath  nothing 
short  of  a  court-martial  to  Long  for  such  disrespect- 
ful behavior,  he  passed  as  quickly  as  possible  out 
of  his  vision.  But  Joe  got  on  very  well  with  Mrs. 
Pepper,  and  when  he  was  obliged  to  give  her  up 
for  others  who  had  equal  claims  upon  him,  he 
remarked  to  himself,  "  Something  has  surely 
happened.  We  never  jibed  like  this  before." 
How  deceitful  are  appearances  ! 


THE  DAYBREAKS  RECEPTION.        357 

Joe  had  done  gallantly  by  Mrs.  Pepper,  and  Mr. 
Bloomsbury,  into  whose  hands  he  now  delivered 
her,  did  equally  well.  He  escorted  her  to  the 
wardroom,  and  lent  his  powers  in  persuading  her 
to  partake  of  the  collation  far  beyond  the  bounds 
of  prudence.  Knowing  Joe  to  be  so  friendly  with 
the  Astons,  he  said  some  pleasant  little  things 
about  him.  He  was  rather  surprised  to  hear  Mrs. 
Pepper  say  that  she  supposed  he  was  a  good  enough 
young  man,  but  that  it  was  unnecessary  for  others 
to  acquaint  him  of  that  fact,  as  he  already  sug- 
gested it  to  himself  at  all  proper  intervals. 

But  Mr.  Bloomsbury  very  soon  forgot  all  about 
this  ill-natured  feeling.  That  morning  he  had 
received  a  fresh  batch  of  pictures,  noting  a  full 
month's  growth  in  the  Hercules,  the  Ajax,  and 
the  Superb,  since  the  last  photographs  had  come. 
He  showed  them  to  Mrs.  Pepper,  who  chilled  him 
by  remarking  upon  what  a  dreadful  thing  it  was  to 
be  away  from  them  so  much.  What  could  they 
ever  amount  to  without  paternal  care  and  over- 
sight ?  She  said  something  to  the  effect  that  naval 
life  must  be  quite  destructive  to  the  natural  affec- 
tions. She  had  observed  with  pain,  she  said,  how 
easily  naval  families  seem  to  bear  separation.  And 
when  Mr.  Bloomsbury  reminded  her  that  it  was 
the  prospect  of  a  reunion  ever)'  three  years  that 
kept  them  so  cheerful,  a  reunion  certain  to  last  two 
vears,   at    least,    and  in   some  fortunate   instances 


358  the  daybreak's  reception. 

from  ten  to  fifteen,  she  said  that  he  was  turning 
over  a  great  heap  of  chaff  to  find  a  very  small 
grain  of  comfort.  Mr.  Bloomsbury  had  a  mind  to 
try  the  Neutralizer  on  her,  but  as  just  at  that 
moment  Schopy  passed  his  door,  he  turned  her 
over  to  him,  and  she  led  Schopy  back  to  the  tryst- 
ing  place,  where,  like  another  Armada,  the  whole 
navy  soon  went  to  pieces  on  the  rocks  of  their 
mutual  dissatisfaction. 

But  Katie !  How  she  seemed  to  enjoy  this 
reception !  How  she  entered  into  the  spirit  of  it ! 
Never  had  she  looked  brighter  or  sweeter,  than  on 
this  afternoon.  Such  a  pretty  costume  as  she 
wore,  and  such  daintiness  of  adjustment  as  there 
was  from  the  obscurest  flounce  upon  her  dress  to 
the  smallest  flower  nestling  in  her  hat !  What 
blending  of  colors  was  there  with  her  beautiful 
complexion  ;  modest,  but  still  bright  hues,  selected 
by  her  own  good  taste  and  arranged  by  her  own 
deft  hands.  Yet  no  self-consciousness  was  mani- 
fest in  this  sweet  girl,  the  queen,  by  consent,  of  all 
this  reception.  Had  she  not  been  the  sensible 
little  maid  she  was,  the  attention  she  now  received 
might  have  somewhat  spoiled  her.  Many  who  had 
seen  the  young  people  out  upon  their  excursions 
around  Bar  Harbor  now  paused  for  an  introduction  ; 
and  the  young  men  seemed  determined  that  she 
should  have  no  respite  from  dancing  or  promenad- 
ing.    All  the  cadets,  excluding  Joe,  who  was  else- 


THE  DAYBREAKS  RECEPTION.        359 

where  with  the  elderly  ladies,  went  wild  over  her. 
Even  poor  little  Schopy  experienced  a  full  hour's 
sunshine  upon  his  usually  cloud-bedimmed  spirit 
from  her  beaming  upon  him. 

And  amid  the  bewilderments  of  this  reception, 
Katie  could  not  help  observing  the  antics,  or 
rather  the  pantomimes  of  "  Mr.  Long,  coxswain  of 
the  Daybreak's  dinghy."  He  amused  her  greatly. 
He  was  perched  up  forward  among  the  men  on  a 
heap  of  gratings,  his  eyes  fastened  on  her,  endeav- 
oring by  every  art  to  entice  from  her  a  recognition. 
But  the  sailor-faces  around  him  were  too  thickly 
crowded  together.  Long  did  not  receive  the  rec- 
ognition he  sought. 

And  if  Katie,  too,  could  only  have  heard  him 
telling  the  apprentice  boys  about  her,  she  would 
have  discovered  that  she  had  one  devotee  in  this 
world,  at  least.  Every  time  she  swung  into  his 
perspective,  his  admiration  of  her  would  break 
forth  in  a  perfect  torrent  of  exclamations. 

When  Joe's  eyes  fell  upon  Katie,  he  came  near 
betraying  his  secret.  She  had  never  seemed  such 
a  vision  of  beauty  to  him  before.  He  received 
her  at  the  gang-way  as  she  came  on  board  and 
escorted  her  to  the  cabin,  in  use  as  a  cloak-room. 
His  old  hateful  confusion  dominated  him.  And 
it  seemed  to  him,  also,  that  there  must  be  such  an 
air  of  restraint  about  him  !  The  few  words  he 
spoke   to    her   as   they   walked    toward    the    cabin 


360  THE    DAYBREAK'S    RECEPTION. 

were  a  miserable  failure.  Though  Katie  was  the 
picture  of  health,  he  persisted  in  asking  her  if  she 
were  really  quite  well.  And  once  he  looked  up 
into  the  sky,  as  cloudless  as  her  own  sweet  face, 
and  inquired  if  she  thought  the  weather  would 
turn  out  fine  that  afternoon.  Katie  had  often 
noted  the  fact  that  Joe's  mind  was  subject  to 
these  meteorological  attacks,  and  she  now  won- 
dered if  the  real  cause  were  not  that  mysterious 
Electric  Potential.  Didn't  that  have  something 
to  do  with  the  weather,  after  all  ? 

As  Joe  left  Katie  at  the  cabin  door,  it  was  with 
his  mind  fully  made  up  that  he  would  devote  that 
afternoon  to  the  old  ladies.  If  he  allowed  himself 
to  think  of  Katie  even,  presenting  as  she  did,  such 
a  glorious  picture  to  his  eyes,  all  his  resolutions 
would  fly  to  the  winds.  He  made  a  covenant 
with  his  thoughts  and  eyes  that  Katie  should  be 
to  him  that  day  as  nearly  non-existent  as  was 
possible  for  such  a  contiguous,  animated  and  inter- 
esting object  to  become.  That  little  wave  of 
beauty  was  not  going  to  bear  Joe  Bently's  heart 
on  its  crest  that  afternoon.  So  Joe  proceeded  to 
make  a  full  surrender  of  himself  to  the  old  ladies, 
becoming  enthusiastic  over  their  loveliness  of  char- 
acter, even  though  he  were  abashed  at  the  ex- 
travagance of  appetite  displayed  by  some  of  them 
clown  in  the  wardroom,  whither  he  frequently  con- 
ducted them  for  refreshments. 


THE    DAYBREAK'S    RECEPTION.  36 1 

All  went  very  well  until  Katie  began  to  think  it 
was  time  for  Joe  to  show  her  a  little  attention.  It 
was  all  very  nice  of  him  to  be  so  attentive  to  those 
dear  old  ladies,  not  one  of  whom  he  had  ever  seen 
before,  but  he  had  a  young  friend  on  board  whom 
he  was  neglecting  shamefully,  if  not  avoiding. 
Besides,  she  had  never  seen  her  auntie  so  radiant 
in  all  her  life  before  ;  she  had  been  in  a  better 
humor,  in  fact,  for  a  number  of  clays.  What  did 
Joe  Bently  mean  by  staying  away  from  her  so 
long  ?  If  anybody  had  been  saying  anything  to 
him  in  the  way  of  warning,  why  wasn't  he  as  in- 
different to  it  as  herself  ?  Since  she  cared  nothing 
for  what  people  might  say,  and  he  knew  as  well 
as  she  did  that  they  were  only  friends,  why  should 
he  take  it  upon  himself  to  nip  any  observation  like 
her  auntie's  in  the  bud  ?  Katie,  for  several  days 
now,  had  strongly  inclined  to  the  theory  that  some- 
body had  given  Joe  a  talking  to,  and  she  had  been 
wondering  if  that  somebody  had  got  a  piece  of  his 
mind  as  her  auntie  had  of  hers.  But  now  she  was 
beginning  to  think  that  Joe  Bently  wasn't  such  a 
plucky  fellow,  after  all.  What  would  a  girl  natur- 
ally think  of  a  young  man  who  wouldn't  stand  by 
his  friendships  ? 

Things  grew  worse  with  Katie.  Joe  was  stay- 
ing away  from  her  intentionally.  This  was  very 
plain.  Not  that  she  needed  any  of  his  attention  — 
she  had   vastly  more  than  she  knew  what  to  do 


362  THE    DAYBREAK'S    RECEPTION. 

with.  As  she  thought  the  matter  over,  the  pretty- 
fan  she  held  in  her  hand  became  very  animated, 
and  the  beautiful  eyes  occasionally  catching  a 
glimpse  of  the  offending  cadet,  were  kindled  with 
a  light  that  was  hardly  that  of  friendship.  That 
cadet  would  get  a  lesson  before  the  afternoon  was 
over  ;  he  would  wish  he  were  swallowed  up  in 
Eagle  Lake. 

It  was  well  that  Joe  at  last  came  to  his  senses ; 
and  he  did  it  at  a  very  opportune  moment.  It  was 
just  after  Katie  had  listened  to  the  observations 
of  several  of  the  old  ladies.  "  He's  so  thoroughly 
kind  and  attentive,"  said  one;  "And  has  such 
engaging  qualities,"  observed  another;  "And  is 
so  strikingly  handsome,"  said  a  third  ;  "  And  will 
make  such  a  splendid  officer,"  remarked  a  fourth. 
So  it  went  on  till  Katie  saw  that  Joe  was  a  hero 
with  the  old  ladies,  at  least.  There  was  another 
thing  about  it,  too.  She  had  discovered  that  Joe 
Bently  was  making  a  decided  impression  upon 
almost  everybody.  She  saw  that  the  handsome, 
manly  cadet  was  much  admired  as  he  moved 
quietly  about,  entertaining  those  not  so  much  ac- 
customed to  such  gratuities  from  young  men  on 
occasions  like  this.  Therefore  Katie  did  not 
know  but  that  she  might  be  brought  to  forgive 
Joe,  if  he  should  humbly  sue  for  pardon. 

And  this  he  did.  When,  at  last,  he  could  keep 
away  from   Katie  no  longer,  he  presented  himself 


THE  DAYBREAK'S  RECEPTION.        363 

before  her  in  great  self-abasement.  His  sincere 
apology,  and  it  was  sincere,  for  he  was  completely 
under  Katie's  spell  again,  was  accepted,  and  Katie 
allowed  him  to  lead  her  away  from  a  very  pleasant 
group  of  admirers. 

Mrs.  Pepper  at  once,  it  was  noticed,  made  a 
chaperonic  move  toward  them,  but  Katie  was  too 
quick  for  her.  She  and  Joe  were  in  too  close 
proximity  with  Enoch  Long  for  that  lady  to 
venture  showing  herself  as  a  third  party.  Mrs. 
Pepper  had  apprehended  the  fact  that  her  presence 
moved  Long  to  grotesque  behavior.  Katie  only 
stopped  short  of  the  mast.  This  was  done  that 
she  might  get  out  of  Mrs.  Pepper's  way  and  speak 
a  word  to  Dawson.  She  had  caught  a  glimpse  of 
him  among  the  spectators  forward. 

Joe  motioned  to  him  to  come  aft,  which  he  did, 
smiling  all  over  and  blushing  as  well.  How  his 
eyes  sparkled  as  Katie  gave  him  her  hand  !  This 
was  the  second  time  she  had  shaken  hands  with 
him.  Dawson  was  such  a  glorious  old  sailor  she 
could  hardly  help  doing  so.  Besides,  she  saw  it 
gave  him  pleasure,  and  she  was  glad  to  bestow 
upon  him  this  consideration.  She  inquired  very 
kindly  after  his  little  interests,  and  when  she  dis- 
missed him,  he  seemed  to  go  forward  treading  on 
something  different  from  solid  oak  and  pine.  He 
went  about  radiant  with  smiles,  muttering  to  him- 
self,   "  Natur  has  the  fixin'  o'   these  things,  arter 


364  THE    DAYBREAK'S    RECEPTION. 

all.  She's  the  rummiest  little  clipper  I  ever  seed. 
An'  didn't  they  look  han'some,  a  standin'  there  to- 
gether ?  Mr.  Bently'll  be  capen  o'  that  pooty 
craft,  or  Dicky  Dawson  don't  know  the  difference 
atwixt  a  clew-jigger  an'  a  spanker  out-haul." 

As  Katie  and  Joe  turned  from  Dawson,  Katie 
saw  that  her  auntie  had  made  straight  for  the 
trysting  place,  and  she  held  it  with  a  look  which 
plainly  said,  it  can  not  be  sub-let.  But  neither 
Katie  nor  Joe  wanted  it.  Trysting  places  are  not 
so  much  for  friends  !  So  they  promenaded  back 
and  forth  along  the  deck. 

"Joe,"  asked  Katie,  after  they  had  got  well 
started,  "is  your  mother  really  quite  ill?  " 

"  Why,  no,"  said  Joe  ;  "  she  isn't  ill  at  all.  What 
put  that  into  your  head  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Edgerton  said  it  must  be  your  mother's 
illness  that  kept  you  from  joining  our  party." 

What  might  be  called  an  extremely  red  smile 
came  out  upon  Joe's  face.  He  saw  that  Harry 
had  been  making  excuses  for  him.  He  was  not 
sorry.  One  thing  about  Harry  was,  that  however 
much  he  might  abuse  him  to  his  face,  he  stood  by 
him  to  almost  any  degree  of  evasion  behind  his 
back.  He  therefore  told  Katie  now  that  his 
mother  had  been  ill  a  month  or  two  before,  and  he 
supposed  that  Harry  had  that  in  mind  in  what  he 
said  to  her.  And  he  added,  perhaps  in  vindication 
of  his  strange  behavior,  "  of  course  one  wants  to 


THE  DAYBREAKS  RECEPTION.        365 

see  his  mother  after  she  has  been  ill,  even  more 
than  when  she  was  ill." 

"We  were  all  so  disappointed,  Joe.  Maud  and 
I  hoped  our  party  wouldn't  be  broken  up  till  you 
leave  Bar  Harbor,  you  know.  And  papa  is  more 
disappointed  than  anybody.  He  wanted  so  much 
for  you  to  see  the  Celeste  upon  the  ocean." 

"  What's  the  matter  with  me,  anyway  ? "  said  Joe 
to  himself.  "For  the  last  week  I  haven't  had  the 
reasoning  powers  of  a  pickerel.  Why  under  heaven 
couldn't  I  have  let  myself  alone  as  a  protege,  and 
not  been  such  an  idiot  ?  " 

"If  your  mother  isn't  ill,  why  can't  you  defer 
your  visit  till  after  we  get  back  ?  "  continued  Katie. 
"  It  would  be  so  nice  to  have  you  with  us,  Joe. 
Won't  you  come  ?  " 

Was  Joe  Bently's  heart  made  of  stone  that  he 
could  resist  such  an  appeal  as  this  ?  And  was  his 
pride,  too,  so  rock-like  that  it  could  not  yield  ?  Joe 
was,  indeed,  so  proud  that  of  his  own  volition  he 
never  would  have  recalled  what  he  had  done.  But 
what  should  he  do  now?  Here  was  Katie  looking 
right  up  into  his  red  face  and  holding  with  the 
gentlest  pressure  in  the  world  to  his  arm.  Never 
before  had  she  seemed  so  kindly  his  friend. 

All  Joe's  wonderful  firmness  forsook  him.  He 
was  a  mere  reed  under  Katie's  touch.  He  now 
did  the  most  audacious  thing  of  his  whole  life.  He 
glanced  down  at  the   sweet  little  girl  beside  him, 


366  THE    DAYBREAK'S    RECEPTION. 

and  with  a  look  on  his  face  such  as  Katie  had 
never  seen  there  before,  he  asked,  "  Do  you  really 
want  me  to  go,  Katie  ?  " 

And  turning  her  pretty  eyes  away  from  Joe,  and 
blushing  as  he  had  never  seen  her  do  before,  she 
answered,  "  Why,  you  foolish  fellow,  of  course 
I  do." 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

katie's  golden  lily  of  a  yacht. 

THE  arrangements  had  all  been  completed. 
Our  party,  not  a  member  short,  have  as- 
sembled on  board  the  Celeste.  In  the  early  morn- 
ing they  will  go  out  with  the  land  breeze  which 
is  expected  to  spring  up  for  their  especial  benefit. 
The  beautiful  yacht  will  then  spread  her  broad 
wings  and  be  gone.  She  is  weary  of  harbor  idle- 
ness and  luxury,  and  longs  for  the  wide  ocean 
where  she  may  disport  herself  at  will.  A  strange 
disquiet  has  seemed  to  hold  her  in  possession  for 
days.  She  has  ridden  uneasily  upon  the  stately 
swells  marching  leisurely  up  the  bay,  tugging  and 
straining  at  her  anchors,  and  rolling  from  side  to 
side  as  if  enraged  because  they  would  not  let  her 
go.  And  when  at  times  strong  winds  have  driven 
white-topped  seas  against  her  bows,  she  has  caught 
their  foaming  crests  in  her  very  teeth,  as  it  were, 
and  thrown  herself  champing  upon  her  cables,  like 
a  noble  steed  upon  his  bit  in  spirited  anger. 

And   now  morning   had    come  —  a   magnificent 
dawn.      At  the  first  gray  streaks  of  light,  Captain 
367 


368       katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht. 

Schonberg,  the  master  of  the  Celeste,  anxious  as 
any  for  a  run  at  sea,  is  on  deck  waiting  for  the 
first  light  air  to  stir  to  get  the  yacht  under  way. 
Before  the  sun  is  risen,  a  land  breeze  has  in  truth 
sprung  up  and  is  gently  drawing  down  the  bay. 
Captain  Schonberg  smiles  at  this  fair  promise  of  a 
good  offing.  Many  a  league,  with  this  breeze, 
will  the  Celeste  toss  off,  he  says  to  himself,  before 
she  deviates  a  single  point  from  her  plotted  path. 

The  click  of  the  windlass,  the  straining  of  sheets 
and  halyards,  the  shuffling  of  feet  upon  the  deck, 
bring  our  young  people,  even  at  the  break  of  day, 
tumbling  out  of  their  state-rooms  to  see  how  well 
the  yacht  can  get  away. 

And  how  ketnly  alive  they  are  to  the  sights 
and  sounds  around  them.  They  watch  the  busy 
fishermen  getting  off  their  smacks,  listen  to  the 
calls  of  the  sea-birds  among  the  adjacent  rocks, 
look  with  delight  upon  the  leaping  of  the  fish  into 
the  first  silvery  light  that  falls  upon  the  sea  — 
their  struggles,  Katie  says,  to  get  to  heaven. 
They  never  knew  the  joy  that  is  in  such  things 
before. 

But  the  morning  itself !  What  shall  be  said  of 
that  ?  They  have  talked  about  the  wondrous  sun- 
sets of  Bar  Harbor,  but  only  two  of  them,  Joe  and 
Harry  —  and  they  under  compulsion  of  the  morning 
watch  —  had  ever  before  seen  a  Bar  Harbor  sunrise. 
What  radiance  and  beauty  now  kindled  beneath  its 


katie's  goldex    lily  of  a  yacht.       369 

touch  !  The  cottage  windows  flashed  and  burned 
like  beaten  gold.  Each  rock  and  tree  and  plot  of 
Screen,  and  breadths  of  mist  stretching  across  the 
hills  like  Jupiter's  bands  —  each  object,  from  the 
granite  curbing  of  the  shores  to  the  majestic 
mountain  tops,  was  illuminated  by  a  wonderful 
splendor.  What  raptures  our  young  people  went 
into  over  this  vision  !  What  analysis  of  its  fair 
colors  they  made !  What  delicate,  elusive  features 
of  its  beauty  they  sought  out  !  They  were  charmed 
and  thrilled  by  this  exquisite  morning  —  bright  har- 
binger, as  they  thought,  of  the  pleasures  awaiting 
them  out  on  the  broad,  blue  sea. 

The  yacht  is  under  way  at  last.  She  has 
caught  the  freshening  breeze  with  her  head  sails 
and  swung  round  before  the  wind.  The  larger 
sails  are  quickly  spread,  and  she  starts  off  at  a 
steady,  handsome  pace.  She  cuts  the  shining 
water  like  a  great  white  bird  —  a  beautiful  vision 
of  snowy  sails  and  stretching  cordage.  It  is  a  joy- 
ful setting  forth,  and  not  till  Egg  Rock  Light  has 
dropped  astern,  do  the  little  group  disperse  —  Joe 
and  Harry,  as  they  say,  to  fetch  a  wink  of  sleep, 
for  this  is  an  old  story  to  them  —  before  the  yachts- 
man's day  begins. 

And  that  day  with  our  young  people  began 
right  merrily.  The  eight  o'clock  breakfast  de- 
tained them  in  the  cabin  only  a  few  minutes. 
The  sea  and  sky  and  now  dissolving  shores  quickly 


370         KATIE  S    GOLDEN     LILY    OF    A    YACHT. 

summoned  them  out  on  deck.  No  dull  or  idle 
minute  would  be  spent  upon  this  cruise.  There 
was  too  much  to  see,  to  talk  about,  to  do,  for  a 
moment  of  the  precious  time  to  be  wasted  or  mis- 
appropriated. They  were  out,  as  it  were,  upon  a 
new  world  ;  that  would  soon  appear,  from  the  vast 
solitude  around  them,  a  world  of  which  the  Celeste 
was  sole  queen. 

And  whoever  with  any  enthusiasm  for  the  sea, 
any  love  of  its  science,  any  profound  sense  of  its 
beauty,  could  find  it  a  desert  place !  What  life 
tenants  it !  What  forces  slumber  in  its  bosom ! 
What  mystery  broods  over  it !  It  seems  quite  the 
all  of  earth.  The  land  itself  appears  only  an  obtru- 
sion into  its  wide  domain,  permitted  by  some 
kindly  spirit  dwelling  in  its  bosom  to  hold  its  occi- 
dental place.  So,  with  imaginations  kindled  by 
these  thoughts  and  many  others,  and  eyes  filled 
with  the  beauty  of  the  morning,  and  hearts  all 
aglow  with  happy  anticipations,  our  young  people 
cast  loose  from  Bar  Harbor  and  committed  them- 
selves, as  they  believed,  to  the  kindly  sea. 

Time  would  fail  us  to  follow  in  detail  the  occu- 
pations and  pastimes  of  the  first  few  days.  Indeed, 
everything  to  our  young  people  was  play.  The 
weather  was  glorious.  The  ocean  seemed  an  infi- 
nite harbor  upon  which  the  eternal  peace  of  heaven 
rested.  There  was  scarcely  wind  enough  to  make 
a  ripple  upon  its   surface.     The   second   day  out 


KATIES    GOLDEN     LILY    OF    A    YACHT.  37 1 

the  Celeste  did  not  log  twenty  miles.  But  every 
minute  of  the  time  was  pleasantly  spent.  Of 
course  it  was  the  same  old  routine  of  life  at  sea : 
picking  up  sails,  signaling  some  chance  yacht, 
watching  for  the  sea  serpent  —  and  being  almost 
willing  to  give  testimony  under  oath  that  it  was 
in  full  view  from  the  Celeste's  deck  —  fishing  when 
the  yacht  lay  becalmed,  hauling  on  ropes  and  tak- 
ing a  trick  at  the  wheel  just  for  the  fun  of  playing 
sailor.  All  these  and  multitudinous  other  things 
filled  the  hours  of  each  day,  making  them  all  too 
short.  If  young  ladies  could  only  go  to  sea  in  a 
man-of-war,  Joe  and  Harry  thought,  they  would 
not  exchange  places  with  a  king. 

And  none  seemed  quite  so  occupied  as  Joe  and 
Katie.  In  the  first  place  Captain  Schonberg  made 
Joe  the  Celeste's  navigator,  and  Joe  chose  Katie 
for  his  assistant,  as  was  the  most  natural  thing  in 
the  world  to  do.  Katie  wanted  to  learn  navigation, 
and  here  was  a  most  excellent  opportunity.  So 
together  they  went  to  work.  Katie  helped  Joe 
wind  the  chronometers  each  morning,  marked  time 
for  him  when  he  took  his  time-sights,  aided  him 
whenever  he  found  an  azimuth  of  the  sun  for 
compass  correction,  and  was  a  very  apt  and  en- 
thusiastic little  assistant.  In  return  for  her  fidelity 
Joe  taught  her  how  to  get  a  meridian  attitude  and 
to  take  a  time-sight.  To  make  it  of  still  greater 
interest,    every  evening  they  took  a    "lunar"   to- 


2)^2         KATIE  S    GOLDEN     LILY    OF    A    YACHT. 

gether.  Up  to  this  time,  it  may  be  said,  Katie  had 
never  known  that  the  moon  had  such  practical 
uses. 

It  was  not  long,  therefore,  before  she  was  able 
to  find  the  yacht's  position  for  herself.  She  was 
very  proud  of  this.  It  had  been  such  a  mystery 
before  Joe's  ready  explanations  somewhat  cleared 
it  up.  But  it  was  such  a  wonder  still !  It  seemed 
so  strange  that  a  mere  speck  like  the  Celeste  could 
start  off  and  find  her  way  around  the  globe  as 
easily  as  a  bird  can  find  its  nest  ;  that  there  should 
be  no  need  of  index  finger,  ship's  trail,  footprints 
of  travel  to  guide  her  path.  Katie's  sense  of 
wonder  made  her  a  great  enthusiast  in  this  work 
of  navigation,  and  Joe's  interest  in  the  science 
was  somehow  marvelously  revived. 

On  each  bright  day  Joe  would  rig  a  studio  for 
Katie  out  on  deck.  For  Katie  had  a  great  work 
on  hand.  It  was  no  less  than  making  a  crayon 
sketch  of  Dawson,  and  for  this  purpose  Dawson 
was  among  the  yacht's  crew  forward,  their  radiant 
guest. 

When  Joe  told  him  he  was  to  go  along  with 
them  in  the  Celeste,  Dawson  burst  out,  "That 
little  gal's  at  the  bottom  o'  this.  What  she  can 
see  in  a  old  barnacle  like  I  be,  knocks  me  out." 

"  She  sees  a  good  deal  in  you,  Dawson,  as  we 
all  do,"  remarked  Joe. 

"  She  must   a  seen   somethin'   in   me,    or   she'd 


KATIE  S    GOLDEN    LILY    OF    A    YACHT.         373 

never  a  shook  hands  like  that,"  observed  Dawson, 
a  film  gathering  in  his  eyes.  "It  was  jest  like 
layin'  a  sprig  o'  orange  blossoms  on  a  bunch  o' 
oakum,"  he  added,  looking  at  his  big  brown 
hand. 

But  when  Katie,  on  board  the  Celeste,  told  him 
she  would  like  him  to  give  her  a  sitting  every  day, 
it  seemed  to  both  frighten  and  amuse  him.  uO, 
no,  Miss!"  he  remonstrated;  "I's  nothin'  but  a 
rough  old  sailor  as'll  soon  be  shark's  bait ;  I's  fit 
fur  no  pictur  fur  you.  It  'ud  be  like  wastin'  yer 
time  a  stufnn'  gulls." 

"  O,  no,  it  wouldn't,  Mr.  Dawson  !  "  said  Katie. 
"You're  the  best  subject  I  know  of.  You're  so 
unique." 

"  Not  a-sayin'  as  I  knows  what  that  word  means, 
Miss,  but  if  ye  sees  anythin'  like  that  in  me,  I's  at 
yer  service.  Ye  can  paint  me  or  scalp  me,"  he 
added,  struck  by  the  humor  of  the  situation. 

So  Katie  had  Dawson  before  her  an  hour  each 
day  for  several  mornings.  He  looked  awkward 
and  ridiculous  enough  sitting  all  around  the  edge 
of  his  chair,  holding  on  to  his  knees  as  if  he  had 
fallen  overboard  and  something  had  been  thrown 
out  to  him  to  hang  on  to.  But,  notwithstanding 
his  diffidence,  he  enjoyed  Katie's  work,  and  a 
very  creditable  crayon  grew  under  her  hand. 

And  thus  passed  several  days.  It  seemed  that 
the  cruise  was  destined  to  be  uneventful.      This 


374         KATIE  S    GOLDEN     LILY    OF    A    YACHT. 

mere  idle  flopping  of  the  sails  with  not  a  capful  of 
wind  in  them  was  becoming  monotonous,  to  the 
young  people,  at  least.  They  were  getting  tired 
of  soft  delicate  clouds,  bright  blue  skies  and  lovely 
tints  —  they  wanted  a  change. 

One  evening  as  they  all  sat  out  on  deck,  as  was 
their  custom,  they  experienced  a  slight  mental,  if 
not  meteorological,  disturbance.  It  was  occasioned 
by  a  remark  of  Harry's. 

"  Call  this  going  to  sea  !  "  he  exclaimed,  jumping 
up  from  his  chair  and  taking  a  look  around  the 
horizon.  "  This  is  the  most  grandmotherly  busi- 
ness I  ever  heard  of  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean." 

"  Mercy  on  us  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Pepper,  "what 
would  you  have?  " 

"A  rattling  gale  of  wind." 

"  You  frighten  me,"  she  returned,  looking  at 
Harry  as  if  she  suspected  him  of  being  another 
Moses  who  had  only  to  stretch  forth  his  hands  in 
order  that  a  "  strong  east  wind  "  might  blow. 
"  Don't  tempt  Providence,  I  beg  of  you,"  she 
pleaded,  "with  this  unlucky  yacht." 

"Sarah,"  said  Mrs.  Aston  abruptly,  "you  will 
please  say  no  more." 

"Whoever  heard  of  such  flying  in  the  face  of 
Providence  ?  "  continued  Mrs.  Pepper,  utterly  ignor- 
ing Mrs.  Aston.  "  I  should  as  soon  think  of 
putting  a  child's  eyes  out  when  it  was  born  as 
naming  a  yacht  the  Celeste." 


KATIE  S    GOLDEN     LILY    OF    A    YACHT.  T>75 

"  It's  a  very  pretty  name,"  said  Katie,  a  little 
resentfully. 

"I  believe  in  the  luck  of  unluck,  you  know," 
laughed  Mr.  Aston. 

"I  don't  want  to  risk  my  life,"  pursued  Mrs. 
Pepper,  "  all  on  account  of  an  unlucky  name.  I 
wish  I'd  staid  at  the  West  End." 

Mrs.  Aston  looked  as  if  she  wished,  too,  that 
she  had  staid  at  the  West  End  ;  and  Katie  looked, 
Joe  thought,  as  if  she  could  cheerfully  contemplate 
Mrs.  Pepper,  secure  from  all  earthly  danger,  in 
some  quiet  grotto  of  the  sea,  ten  thousand  fathoms 
down. 

"What  in  the  world  does  she  mean?"  asked 
Maud,  who  was  none  too  bold  a  sailor. 

"  Oh  !  she  refers  to  a  ship,  named  the  Mary 
Celeste,  that  was  found  abandoned  at  sea,"  replied 
Mr.  Aston,  in  brief  explanation. 

"To  think  you  should  have  given  this  yacht 
that  name,  Franklin,"  said  Mrs.  Pepper,  most 
dismally. 

"  Half  my  vessels  are  named  after  unlucky 
ships,"  said  Mr.  Aston,  "and  they're  the  luckiest 
I  have." 

Mr.  Aston  possessed  one  oddity.  It  showed 
itself  in  a  number  of  ways.  He  liked  to  sit  with 
thirteen  at  table,  to  go  to  sea  on  Friday,  and  to 
name  his  vessels  after  unlucky  ones.  He  believed 
there  was  luck  in  all  this.      He  was  very  proud  of 


376      katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht. 

his  yacht's  name,  standing  out  for  it  even  against 
Katie,  who  wanted  to  call  her  the  "  Golden  Lily." 

"  I  would  like  to  hear  about  the  Mary  Celeste, 
sir,"  said  Joe.      "It  must  be  very  interesting." 

"It's  very  startling,"  said  Mrs.  Aston. 

"  And  very  prophetic,"  said  Mrs.  Pepper. 

"  Is  it  about  a  haunted  ship  ? "  asked  Maud, 
peering  uneasily  into  the  shadows  gathering  upon 
the  yacht. 

"  O,  no  !  "  laughed  Katie,  "it  isn't  a  ghost  story 
at  all.  There's  no  ghost  story  that  can  compare 
with  it." 

"  Perhaps  you'd  better  not  tell  it,  Franklin," 
observed  Mrs.  Aston,  looking  inquiringly  at 
Maud. 

"Oh!  let  him  tell  it,"  said  Maud,  "I'm  dying 
to  hear  it." 

"Well,"  laughed  Mr.  Aston,  "we  all  need  shak- 
ing up  a  little.  We  won't  get  it  out  of  the  weather 
—  that's  a  sure  case;  so  we'll  take  the  next  best 
thing." 

"  Franklin,"  said  Mrs.  Pepper  solemnly,  "  do 
you  see  that  cloud  gathering  on  the  horizon  ? 
There's  trouble  brewing  for  this  yacht." 

"Please  let  papa  tell  his  story,  Auntie,"  said 
Katie,  not  unamiably,  but  a  little  peremptorily. 

"To  begin  with,"  said  Mr.  Aston,  "it's  the 
strangest  story  in  all  the  annals  of  the  sea.  I 
got     it    direct     from    the     State     Department     at 


KATIES    GOLDEN    LILY    OF    A    YACHT.         377 

Washington,  where  it  is  on  record.  The  Mary 
Celeste  was  found  forsaken  at  sea  under  the  most 
peculiar  circumstances.  She  was  owned  in  New 
York  and  was  bound  for  Villefranche-sur-Mer, 
France,  with  a  valuable  cargo.  About  three  hun- 
dred miles  west  of  Gibraltar,  she  was  sighted  by 
an  Italian  bark." 

"O,  papa!  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Katie, 
"  but  it  was  a  German  vessel." 

"  You  are  right,  Katie  ;  it  was  a  German  bark 
named  the  Dei  Gratia.  She  signaled  the  stranger, 
and  to  her  surprise  got  no  answer.  It  was  so 
very  mysterious  that  the  captain  bore  down  upon 
her  and  made  a  close  examination  with  the  ship's 
glasses.  But  not  a  sign  of  life  was  visible  about 
the  deck.  The  captain  then  determined  to  board 
her.  Manning  a  boat  with  a  picked  crew,  he, 
himself,  started  in  charge.  As  they  came  along- 
side they  gave  a  loud  halloo,  hoping  to  attract 
attention.  It  was  like  calling  to  the  sea.  They 
had  found  an  abandoned  ship." 

Here  Mr.  Aston  paused,  and  looked  about 
among  his  listeners. 

"  The  captain  and  his  men,"  he  resumed, 
"  clambered  quickly  over  the  side,  and  proceeded  to 
make  a  thorough  search.  Never  were  men  more 
startled.  Here  was  a  deserted  ship,  and  not  the 
ghost  of  a  reason  could  they  discover  for  her 
desertion.     Everything  was  in  its  place.    It  seemed 


378       katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht. 

that  the  crew  must  be  hiding  from  their  strange 
visitors.  No ;  they  explored  every  part  of  the 
vessel,  and  not  even  a  mouse  could  they  discover. 
It  was  as  though  the  Mary  Celeste  was  manned 
by  an  invisible  crew,  for  everything  was  as  snug 
and  safe  as  with  us  this  minute." 

"  H'm  !  safe  as  with  us  this  minute,"  repeated 
Mrs.  Pepper. 

"  Not  a  boat  was  away  from  her  davits.  Chro- 
nometers, compasses,  charts,  all  the  navigation 
instruments  were  where  they  belonged.  The 
mates'  watches  hung  in  their  state-rooms,  the 
money  chest  was  untouched.  Not  a  thing,  in 
short,  had  been  removed  from  the  ship,  and  every- 
thing was  in  perfect  order.  But  the  thirteen 
people  who  had  been  on  board  —  not  a  trace  of 
them  could  be  found." 

"That  fatal  number!  "  put  in  Mrs.  Pepper;  "I 
never  knew  it  to  fail,"  and  she  at  once  appeared 
as  though  she  were  bestowing  numerical  attention 
upon  the  Celeste. 

"  Whatever  it  was  that  happened  must  have 
occurred  at  dinner  time,"  continued  Mr.  Aston, 
paying  no  attention  to  the  interruption.  "  A 
half-eaten  meal  was  found  in  the  cabin,  and  also 
upon  the  men's  mess  table.  Oh  !  that  reminds 
me.  In  one  corner  of  the  cabin  was  a  sewing 
machine  with  a  child's  garment  still  under  the 
needle.       A    woman's     thimble     stood    upon    one 


KATIE  S    GOLDEN    LILY    OF    A    YACHT.         379 

corner  of  the  machine  just  as  the  owner  had  placed 
it  when  called  to  dinner.  It  was  afterwards  ascer- 
tained that  the  captain  had  his  wife  and  child 
with  him." 

"  It's  all  so  strange,"  said  Maud,  evidently  not 
relishing  this  weird  story. 

"What  was  done  with  the  vessel,  sir?"  asked 
Harry,  who  had  been  all  absorbed  in  Mr.  Aston's 
account. 

"  A  prize  crew  was  put  on  board,  who  took  her 
to    Gibraltar.      The    English    Consul    there    gave 
the  affair  a  searching  investigation,  but  no  light  • 
was  thrown  upon  it." 

"Perhaps  they  were  overhauled  by  pirates,  sir," 
said  Ned. 

"That  is  altogether  improbable.  In  that  case 
the  money  and  other  valuables  would  have  been 
gone  ;  and  there  would  surely  have  been  signs  of 
resistance." 

"  Could  it  have  been  a  case  of  poisoning?  "  asked 
Harry.      "I've  heard  of  such  things." 

"  That  was  suggested  in  the  inquiry  at  Gibraltar. 
It  was  thought  that  the  cook,  in  a  fit  of  rage  or 
insanity,  might  have  poisoned  the  whole  ship's 
company,  and  then,  driven  by  remorse  or  insanity, 
committed  suicide.  On  the  strength  of  this,  the 
food  which  had  been  found  on  the  tables,  and  care- 
fully preserved,  was  analyzed  ;  but  it  was  entirely 
free  from  poison." 


380      katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht. 

"Maybe  the  vessel  was  haunted,  after  all,"  said 
Maud,  with  wide-open  eyes,  "and  they  didn't  dare 
to  stay  on  her." 

Everybody  but  Mrs.  Pepper  laughed  at  Maud's 
suggestion. 

"  But  there  were  all  the  boats  secure  at  the 
davits,"  said  Mr.  Aston.  "No,"  he  continued, 
"there  is  absolutely  no  tenable  theory.  Pirates 
and  murder  are  out  of  the  question.  Not  a  trace 
of  blood  could  be  found,  and  not  a  sign  of  robbery. 
There  was  no  more  marks  of  struggle  than  two 
kittens  would  make  playing  about  the  deck  or  in 
the  cabin.  They  did  find  an  old  sword  with  a  few 
spots  on  it,  which  at  first  were  thought  to  be  blood, 
but  chemical  analysis  showed  them  to  be  ordinary 
rust." 

"Surely,  sir,  there  must  have  been  seme  slight 
clue?"  remarked  Joe,  intent  upon  constructing  a 
theory  of  this  wonderful  case. 

"It  might  just  be  mentioned,"  said  Mr.  Aston, 
who  was  familiar  with  every  detail  of  the  investi- 
gation, "that  a  barrel  of  alcohol  was  found  tapped." 

"That's  the  solution,"  said  Joe  triumphantly. 

"But  there  are  insuperable  difficulties  here," 
argued  Mr.  Aston.  "  If  the  captain  and  his  family 
had  been  killed,  there  would  have  been  signs  of 
murder.  Then  those  who  committed  the  deed 
would  not  have  drowned  themselves  by  wholesale ; 
and  if  they  fled  from  the  vessel  there  is  the  diffi 


katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht.       381 

culty  with  the  boats  again.  No  ;  this  case  is  with- 
out a  parallel.  Not  so  much  as  a  hint  has  been 
given  as  to  the  fate  which  befell  this  ship's  com- 
pany. The  questions  to  this  day  are,  Why  was 
she  deserted?  and,  What  became  of  her  people? 
The  State  Department  took  the  matter  up,  direct- 
ing United  States  representatives  abroad  to  be  on 
the  lookout  for  information  respecting  the  missing 
ones.  But  the  mystery  is  still  unsolved.  There, 
you  have  the  story  of  the  Mary  Celeste." 

"Not  by  any  means,"  ejaculated  Mrs.  Pepper. 
"She  was  afterwards  wrecked." 

"Sarah,"  said  Mrs.  Aston  sharply,  "we've  had 
enough  of  the  Mary  Celeste." 

Each  drew  a  long  breath.  The  story  had  been 
thrilling,  and  unlike  many  thrilling  stories,  true  to 
the  letter.  Maud  had  been  somewhat  frightened, 
but  was  now  reassured  by  the  ridicule  which  Mr. 
Aston  proceeded  to  heap  upon  superstitions  of  the 
sea.  He  laughed  at  such  things  ;  and  Katie,  to  no 
little  extent,  had  imbibed  his  notions.  Still  no 
one  was  enthusiastic  over  his  si  range  fancy  for 
naming  his  yacht  after  the  luckless  ship  ;  and  even 
Harry  indulged  a  secret  wish  that  that  coveted 
gale,  should  it  come,  might  be  tempered  to  these 
shorn  lambs  ;  shorn  of  many  of  '^heir  pretty  con- 
ceits touching  the  beautiful  Celeste. 

In  a  few  minutes,  however,  the  hapless  Mary 
Celeste  was  quite  out  of  mind.      Katie  had  gone 


382       katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht. 

to  the  piano,  and  through  the  open  cabin  doors 
and  skylights  now  floated  the  strains  of  a  lively 
waltz.  Everybody  but  Joe,  who  was  left  without 
a  partner,  went  into  a  grand  whirl  about  the  deck. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston,  Harry  and  Maud,  and,  can 
we  believe  it,  Ned  and  Mrs.  Pepper,  rotated  them- 
selves into  a  spirit  of  giddy  jollity.  Nor  was 
sobriety  fairly  established  until  they  bade  one  an- 
other good-night,  and  withdrew  to  their  respective 
state-rooms. 

Before  turning  in  Joe  went  out  on  deck  to  have 
a  word  with  Dawson.  Being  able  to  sleep  as  long 
as  he  pleased,  Dawson  spent  half  of  each  night 
with  the  watch  on  deck.  Joe  found  him  now  lean- 
ing over  the  rail,  intently  studying  the  sky  and 
sea.  The  night  was  as  beautiful  as  any  that  had 
preceded  it.  A  slight  swell,  however,  was  work- 
ing up  from  the  southward,  to  which  the  yacht  was 
gently  dipping.  A  bank  of  cirro-stratus  clouds 
lay  low  upon  the  horizon,  its  upper  edge  thinning 
into  broad  sheets,  which  were  slowly  stretching 
across  the  sky.  There  was  not  even  a  breath  of 
wind;  not  so  much  as  a  cat's-paw  could  be  seen 
upon  the  water.  But  for  the  dip  of  the  yacht  Joe 
would  have  scarcely  known  they  were  out  upon 
the  ocean.  The  stillness  was  almost  oppressive. 
The  empty  sails  clung  to  the  masts  like  a  swim- 
mer's garments  around  his  body. 

"We's  goin'  to  ketch  it,  sir,"  observed  Dawson. 


katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht.       383 

"Catch  what?"  asked  Joe. 

"  Bad  weather,  sir." 

"I  see  no  signs  of  it,  Dawson." 

"Signs  enough,  sir,"  said  Dawson,  shaking  his 
head  ominously. 

"What  are  they?"  asked  Joe,  quite  as  confident 
of  the  accuracy  of  Dawson's  predictions  as  of  those 
of  the  Weather  Bureau  at  Washington. 

"When  you  sees  the  sun  a-settin',  sir,  with 
them  gaudy  colors  like  a  boy  a-showin'  a  pocket 
full  o'  new  marbles,  you  must  stan'  by;  it's  the 
wust  o'  signs." 

"The  sunset  was  remarkably  brilliant,"  said  Joe, 
"but  they've  been  so  this  season." 

"An'  when  you  hears  people  a-talkin'  like  you 
all  did  to-night,  sir,  it's  allers  the  percusser  o' 
storms,"  added  Dawson  with  great  solemnity. 

"Oh!   I  guess  not,"  laughed  Joe. 

"It's  a  curus  phonomoly  o'  the  sea,  sir;  it  allers 
fetches  it,"  Dawson  went  on. 

"  I  wouldn't  have  believed  you  so  superstitious, 
Dawson,"  said  Joe,  no  little  amused. 

"  Long  insperience  has  gim'me  my  own  notions 
o'  things,  sir." 

Joe's  sleep  that  night  was  unbroken.  When 
morning  came,  the  first  thing  he  looked  for  was  a 
change  of  weather.  The  only  perceptible  change 
was  an  increase  in  the  swell  he  had  noticed  the 
preceding  night,  and  an  inclination  on  the  part  of 


384      katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht. 

the  little  wind  they  had  to  haul  ahead.  The  yacht 
lay  close  up  to  the  wind,  cutting  the  water  beauti- 
fully at  a  speed  of  four  or  five  knots.  The  routine 
of  that  day  went  on  quite  spiritedly,  but  toward 
evening  there  were  indications  that  they  might 
get  a  shaking  up  even  from  the  weather.  Banks 
of  heavy  gray  clouds  hung  upon  the  southern  hori- 
zon, which,  as  the  darkness  deepened,  were  lit  up 
weirdly  and  grandly  by  incessant  flashes  of  light- 
ning. The  sea  became  brilliant  with  phosphores- 
cent light,  a  sort  of  detained  lightning.  Katie 
fairly  clapped  her  hands  in  ecstasy  over  the  intense 
blue  of  the  water,  brought  into  fine  relief  by  the 
myriad  stars  —  a  nether  firmament  —  kindled  along 
the  track  of  the  Celeste.  Katie's  exclamation 
was,  "Splendidly  beautiful!"  But  with  all  this 
the  wind  was  rising,  and  the  barometer  going 
down. 

It  was  now  evident  to  all  that  the  glorious 
weather  was  at  an  end.  It  had  burned  out,  as  it 
were,  at  sunset,  like  the  last  piece  in  a  splendid 
pyrotechnic  display.  Maud  felt  certain  that  the  bad 
luck  of  the  Mary  Celeste  was  on  their  track.  Mrs. 
Pepper  was  absolutely  frightened,  and  inclined  to 
take  shelter  under  Joe's  wing.  "Oh!  Mr.  Bent- 
ly,"  she  cried,  almost  snuggling  up  to  him,  "what 
shall  we  do  if  it  turns  out  a  hurricane?  " 

"Make  things  snug,  and  hold  on  for  dear  life," 
laughed  Joe. 


katie's  golden    lily  of  a  yacht.       385 

"  How  can  you  laugh  with  only  a  plank  between 
you  and  eternity?"  said  Mrs.  Pepper. 

"But  only  think  of  the  thickness  of  that  plank," 
replied  Joe. 

By  ten  o'clock  a  moderate  gale  was  blowing, 
and  a  heavy  sea  running.  Mr.  Aston  gave  orders 
to  clap  on  sail  and  run  for  sea-room.  All  that 
night  the  yacht  seemed  to  revel  in  the  changed 
conditions,  and  by  morning  had  made  a  remarkable 
run.  Mr.  Aston  wanted  her  to  have  free  rein  to 
see  what  she  could  do.  She  stood  up  to  her  work 
magnificently,  leaping  over  the  sea  as  gracefully 
as  a  dolphin.  It  seemed  her  delight  to  thus  grap- 
ple with  the  elements,  and  everybody  but  Maud 
and  Mrs.  Pepper  was  charmed  with  her.  They 
would  have  given  the  gold  of  the  world,  had  they 
possessed  it,  could  they  have  felt  once  more  the 
solid  earth  beneath  their  feet. 

All  went  well  until  noon.  Then  there  were 
unmistakable  signs  of  a  heavy  blow.  Joe  found 
the  yacht's  position,  by  dead  reckoning,  to  be 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  coast,  a 
safe  distance.  As  he  went  forward  to  report  this 
to  Captain  Schonberg,  he  saw  that  the  captain 
looked  very  grave ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  he 
asked  him  if  he  were  concerned  about  the  weather. 

"It's  a  bad  outlook,  Mr.  Bently,"  the  captain 
replied.  "We  may  thank  our  stars  if  we  get  out 
of  it  with  whole  skins." 


386      katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht. 

"What!  is  it  anymore  than  an  ordinary  gale, 
sir?"  inquired  Joe,  somewhat  alarmed. 

"Much  more.      It's  a  cyclonic  disturbance." 

Scarcely  had  Captain  Schonberg  uttered  these 
words  than  there  came  such  a  burst  of  wind  upon 
the  yacht  that  she  was  thrown  nearly  upon  her 
beam  ends.  But  this  was  trifling  compared  with 
the  accident  which  happened  at  Joe's  very  side. 
With  a  loud  noise  a  block  carried  away  aloft,  and 
in  its  descent  struck  Captain  Schonberg  sense- 
less to  the  deck. 

Instantly  all  was  confusion.  The  ladies,  all  of 
whom,  excepting  Maud,  who  was  safely  boarded  in 
in  her  bunk,  were  on  deck  clinging  to  the  weather 
rigging,  gave  a  frightened  scream,  and  the  whole 
crew  were  seized  with  a  panic.  Joe  sprang  to 
Captain  Schonberg's  assistance.  For  the  moment 
the  yacht  was  forgotten,  and  was  left  floundering 
almost  helpless  in  the  hollow  of  the  seas.  But 
her  extremity  was  quickly  seen  by  Mr.  Aston. 
As  Joe  bent  to  raise  the  prostrate  captain,  his 
voice  reached  him,  calling  loudly,  "  Bently,  Bently, 
take  command." 

Mr.  Aston  had  no  knowledge  of  practical  sea- 
manship, but  he  was  well  aware  of  the  gravity  of 
the  situation.  And  fortunate  for  them  all  was  it, 
that  the  cool-headed,  dauntless  Joe  Bently  was  on 
board.  The  owner  of  the  Celeste  saw  that  he 
was   the    one   to    step   into   Captain    Schonberg's 


katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht.       387 

shoes.  And  right  royally  did  he  fill  them.  In- 
stantly the  speaking  trumpet  was  at  his  lips,  and 
a  succession  of  sharp  orders  rang  out  aboYe  the 
roar  of  wind  and  sea.  Presently,  the  gallant, 
obedient  little  Celeste  was  riding  in  comparative 
quiet  upon  the  now  huge  seas,  hove  to  as  skillfully 
as  though  our  youthful  skipper  were  Captain 
Schonberg  himself. 

And  this  was  but  the  beginning.  Word  soon 
came  from  Captain  Schonberg's  room,  where  he 
had  been  removed,  that  he  was  too  seriously  hurt 
to  return  to  the  deck.  Joe  was  left  in  command. 
Here  was  the  emergency  of  his  life.  He  fairly 
trembled  at  the  thought  of  it.  Nobody  but  him- 
self and  the  injured  captain  knew  the  nature  of 
this  storm.  And  well  Joe  knew  what  to  expect 
from  it.  It  would  be  no  new  experience  to  him. 
But  one  thought  was  now  present  with  him  —  how 
to  evade  the  vortex  of  this  cyclone.  He  knew  its 
terrible  danger  —  so  quiet  one  moment  that  the 
flame  of  a  candle  would  not  flicker  in  it,  the  next 
concentrating  all  the  furies  of  the  skies. 

What  he  did  must  be  done  quickly.  There 
was  not  even  time  for  consultation  with  Harry  and 
Dicky  Dawson.  First  of  all,  he  must  determine 
at  what  point  in  the  storm's  path  the  yacht  now 
lay.  This  was  quickly  ascertained.  Presently  the 
wind  veered  to  the  south,  and  the  barometer  made 
a  rapid  descent.      Applying  the  well-known   rule, 


388       katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht. 

Joe  now  saw  that  the  bearing  of  the  cyclone's 
center  was  eight  points  of  the  compass  from  the 
direction  in  which  the  wind  was  blowing,  or  due 
east. 

Having  thus  determined  the  bearing  of  the 
vortex  or  center,  he  shortly  came  to  two  con- 
clusions—  the  one  very  pleasant,  and  the  other 
extremely  startling.  The  yacht  was  at  a  compara- 
tively safe  distance  from  the  storm  center,  but 
she  was  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the  storm,  in 
its  most  dangerous  semicircle.  And  he  also  dis- 
covered that  he  had  hove  the  yacht  to  on  the  wrong 
tack. 

Another  succession  of  ringing  orders,  and  the 
yacht  in  quick  time,  came  handsomely  round  on 
the  starboard  tack.  Upon  this  tack  her  course 
would  be  away  from  the  dreaded  center,  and  she 
would  keep  coming  up  into  the  wind  as  it  might 
veer  from  time  to  time,  without  danger  of  being 
taken  aback.  And  thus  hove  to  she  would  remain 
quite  stationary  while  the  storm  was  passing  by. 
She  now  lay  comparatively  easy  under  double- 
reefed  foresail. 

The  yacht  snug,  Joe  began  his  precautionary 
work.  He  told  Dawson  that  when  the  storm 
should  be  at  its  height,  he  wanted  him  at  the 
wheel.  Harry  was  to  look  after  things  below,  and 
to  stand  by  to  assist  on  deck  if  his  presence  should 
be  required  there.      Joe  then  ordered  storm  stay- 


katie's  golden   lily  of  a  yacht.       389 

sails  and  pendant  tackles  to  be  broken  out.  With 
the  pendant  tackles  hi  set  men  at  work  strengthen- 
ing the  rigging.  The  storm  staysails  were  made 
ready  to  take  the  place  of  the  canvas  the  yacht 
now  carried,  should  it  be  blown  away.  At  the 
last  minute,  he  bethought  him  of  tarpaulins,  to  be 
placed  in  the  rigging  to  keep  the  yacht  up  in  the 
wind,  should  it  become  impossible  to  carry  any 
sail  at  all.  This  done,  everything  was  securely 
battened  down.  Joe  expected  that  some  of  the 
hills  now  tumbling  up  to  an  alarming  height, 
would  soon  insist  upon  coming  on  board.  And 
everything  snug,  he  felt  somewhat  as  a  daring 
rider  might  feel  bestride  a  wild  mustang,  secure 
beneath  him  with  solid  bit  and  girths. 

But  for  what  followed,  the  most  invincible 
courage  was  necessary.  Swiftly  the  storm  came 
on.  Fearfully  it  whirled  upon  its  awful  axis. 
There  are  those  who  recall  this  dreadful  tempest, 
and  know  that  words  cannot  exaggerate  its  ter- 
rific aspects.  Joe  stood  appalled.  Such  pitch- 
ing and  writhing,  such  frightful  roaring,  such  awful 
revelry  of  winds,  such  mighty  tramping  of  seas, 
struck  terror  even  to  his  brave  heart.  Sheets 
parted  like  slender  threads,  with  the  noise  of  a 
cannon,  the  foresail  was  blown  away,  the  great 
waves  clambered  over  the  bows,  and  the  little 
yacht  seemed  wallowing  about  in  frenzied  drunken- 
ness.     Each    instant   it  was  as    though  she   were 


390         KATIE'S    GOLDEN    LILY    OF    A    YACHT. 

taking  her  last  plunge,  to  disappear  forever.  Surely 
some  Nemesis  was  pursuing  the  struggling  Celeste 
to  her  destruction. 

And  the  yacht  would  have  surely  foundered, 
but  for  a  thought  which  came  upon  Joe  like  an  in- 
spiration. Those  mountain  seas,  thundering  around 
her,  as  it  were,  gnashing  their  teeth  upon  her, 
could  be  held  in  leash.  Their  power  could  be 
curbed  and  broken  ;  in  their  presence  the  yacht 
could  be  as  safe  as  a  child  before  a  caged  lion. 
Thanks  to  modern  discovery,  though  it  cannot 
hush  the  winds,  it  can  yet  still  the  tumult  of  the 
waves. 

Joe's  happy  thought  was  what  has  brought 
comfort  and  hope  to  many  a  despairing  mariner's 
heart.  Two  fire  buckets  were  quickly  brought  on 
deck  and  thickly  perforated  with  little  holes  at  the 
bottom.  They  were  then  filled  with  oakum,  and 
the  oakum  was  saturated  with  oil  to  the  buckets' 
brim.  A  daring  young  fellow  among  the  crew, 
rigged  an  arrangement  out  over  the  bows  and 
suspended  them  above  the  sea. 

The  effect  was  magical.  Had  the  yacht  that 
moment  burst  into  the  center  of  the  cyclone, 
where  instantaneous  calm  had  fallen,  the  waves 
would  not  have  dropped  so  suddenly.  As  the 
film  of  oil  spread  out  upon  the  water,  it  bore  the 
great  billows  down  as  though  crushed  beneath 
ponderous  weights. 


KATIE  S    GOLDEN     LILY    OF    A    YACHT.  39I 

Joe  had  often  pictured  to  himself  mountains 
moving  at  the  word  of  faith,  the  lapsing  of  Gen- 
nesaret's  waves  at  the  Master's  command ;  and 
now  he  seemed  standing  in  the  presence  of  a  visi- 
ble miracle.  It  filled  him  with  a  solemn,  sacred 
awe,  repeating,  as  it  seemed  to  do,  nature's  obedi- 
ence to  a  will  above  her  own.  A  conquering  spirit 
seemed  brooding  over  the  waters,  and  the  monster 
waves,  at  its  filmy  touch,  had  fallen  to  the  quiet 
and  beauty  of  harbor  undulations.  The  ocean, 
amid  its  awful  tempestuousness,  seemed  to  have 
found  a  tender,  sheltering  spot  in  its  own  bosom, 
where  this  terror-stricken  yacht's  company  might 
be  at  rest. 

The  Celeste  was  saved ;  and  vessel  never  en- 
tered port  bearing  more  grateful  hearts  than  beat 
in  the  bosoms  of  our  young  mariners,  as  still  under 
Joe  Bently's  command,  the  gallant  little  yacht,  a 
few  days  later,  came  again  up  to  her  anchorage 
at  Bar  Harbor.  And  never  did  greater  hero  come 
in  from  the  sea  than  our  brave  cadet,  to  one,  at 
least,  in  Katie's  "Golden  Lily"  of  a  yacht. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER. 

WINTER  has  again  fallen  upon  our  North- 
ern hemisphere.  The  Celeste,  disman- 
tled and  housed  over,  is  laid  up  in  forlorn  waiting 
for  another  season.  And  the  Daybreak  —  where 
is  she  ?  With  all  speed  she  is  making  her  way 
over  summer  seas  to  a  new  and  distant  station. 
She  is  under  the  Southern  Cross,  which,  with  the 
awful  coal  sack — the  end  of  the  universe  —  is 
nightly  Joe  Bently's  wonder  and  study.  She  is 
ordered  to  the  Pacific ;  and  henceforth  our  cadets 
will  make  their  yachting  trips  from  Patagonia  to 
San  Francisco,  and  from  San  Francisco  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth. 

The  Daybreak's  orders  to  this  far-off  station 
were,  of  course,  a  surprise  and  a  disappointment. 
The  faith  of  her  officers  and  crew  in  her  ultimate 
assignment  to  the  European  squadron  had  been 
implicit  and  unquestioning.  But  the  Navy  De- 
partment said  otherwise,  and  the  Daybreak  was  to 
complete  her  cruise  on  what  might  be  termed  the 
watery  side  of  our  planet. 
392 


THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER.  393 

When  the  news  was  received  the  ship  had  a 
look  of  bereavement.  Schopy  abstained  from 
every  form  of  nutrition  for  one  whole  day,  remain- 
ing in  his  hammock;  Hubbins  did  the  subject 
justice;  Mr.  Bloomsbury,  of  course,  smiled  over 
it  all,  but  Joe  caught  him  gazing  at  the  Neutral- 
izer ;  Mr.  Moncrief  at  once  went  on  a  short  leave 
of  absence,  permitting  the  cadets  to  shamefully 
neglect  their  journals;  and  one  or  two  uttered 
vague  threats  of  marching  the  whole  United 
States  upon  the  Navy  Department  to  demand  the 
revocation  of  the  ship's  orders  or  their  own.  It 
was  a  wicked  injustice,  they  claimed,  to  send  them 
so  far  away  from  aged  relatives,  some  of  whom 
had  attained  their  fifty-fifth  year.  If  the  Navy 
Department  bad  no  feeling,  the  hearts  of  senators 
were  not  destitute  of  sympathy;  they  would  not 
suffer  this  thing. 

But  it  was  really  surprising  to  see  how  soon 
cheerfulness  was  restored  on  board  the  Daybreak. 
Before  a  week  had  elapsed  nearly  everybody  was 
in  favor  of  the  Pacific  station.  Not  a  few  declared 
that  they  would  not  go  to  Europe,  if  they  had  the 
chance.  It  was  a  very  much  overrated  station. 
Everybody  knew  somebody  who  had  been  on  the 
Pacific,  and  who  said  that  Europe  was  not  to  be 
mentioned  beside  it.  Then,  would  they  not  fetch 
up  in  San  Francisco  once  in  two  years,  to  spend  a 
month  at  least  ?     And  that  would  be  s-oins;  home. 


394  THE     RISING    YOUNG     LAWYER. 

So  they  took  what  comfort  they  could  out  of  it. 
And  on  the  edge  of  winter  they  kissed  wives  and 
children  and  sisters  and  mothers  and  sweethearts 
a  long  farewell  —  only  He  who  hath  measured  the 
waters  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand  knowing  how 
long  —  and  the  Daybreak  sailed  away. 

While  Joe  proceeds  to  his  station,  we  will  linger 
behind  with  his  friends  :  or,  more  specifically,  his 
friend. 

Katie  has  two  visits  on  hand  this  winter ;  the 
first,  to  Mrs.  Pepper  in  Providence,  and  the  sec- 
ond, to  Miss  Maud  in  Boston.  Mrs.  Pepper  had 
managed  to  "make  up"  with  Katie.  She  had 
implored  her  forgiveness  for  her  ill-advised  and 
unkind  statements,  and  Katie  had  freely  and  heart- 
ily forgiven  her.  She  told  Katie  that  it  was  her 
deep  and  undying  interest  in  her  which  had  led 
her,  she  now  saw,  to  go  too  far,  and  she  was  very 
sorry  for  what  had  taken  place.  "  You  know, 
dear,"  she  went  on  to  say,  "your  welfare  is  as 
near  my  heart  as  that  of  an  own  daughter  would 
be,  had  Providence  vouchsafed  me  the  sweet  gift 
bestowed  upon  your  parents." 

A  wicked  little  doubt  as  to  any  excess  of  sweet- 
ness that  might  have  been  mingled  in  the  visionary 
being  to  whom  Mrs.  Pepper  alluded  came  into 
Katie's  mind,  but  of  course  she  kept  it  to  herself. 
She  found  that  her  aunt  held  quite  a  tender  place 
in  her  heart,  after  all.      It  would  take  too  long  to 


THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER.  395 

tell  how  this  had  been  brought  about,  but  it  may 
be  said  that  an  apparent  change  in  Mrs.  Pepper 
toward  Joe  Bently  had  its  due  effect  upon  Katie. 

But  had  Mrs.  Pepper  given  up  her  plan  concern- 
ing Katie  ?  By  no  means.  It  retained  its  life 
amid  the  most  adverse  conditions.  It  had  the 
vitality  of  an  uneradicated  thistle  root.  Her  plan 
seemed  to  have  been  destroyed  at  the  top  a  dozen 
times,  but  there  was  plenty  of  vigor  left  at  the 
bottom.  "What's  the  heart  of  a  young  girl  ?  "  said 
Mrs.  Pepper  to  herself.  "  It  can  shift  its  affec- 
tions with  hardly  a  whimper,  like  a  black  and  tan 
terrier."  And  with  Joe  Bently  half  the  sphere 
distant,  she  flattered  herself  that  Katie's  heart 
would  soon  be  pattering  round  after  her  friend  of 
the  law  as  quietly  and  obediently  as  though  he  led 
it  by  a  string.  She  therefore  wheedled  Katie  into 
making  that  promised  visit. 

But  what  is  the  condition  of  Katie's  friendship 
for  Joe  ?  Has  it  undergone  any  change  ?  Yes,  it 
is  quite  a  different  thing  from  what  it  was  before 
the  Celeste's  memorable  cruise.  Joe  had  come 
back  Katie's  hero,  and  his  reward,  like  that  of  all 
heroes  from  the  world's  beginning,  was  something 
stronger  than  friendship.  Katie  could  no  longer 
disguise  the  fact  from  herself  that  her  heart  be- 
longed to  Joe.  But  her  hand  ?  That  was  a  differ- 
ent matter.  Hearts  and  hands  are  so  different,  we 
know.      People  so  often  possess  the  heart  without 


396  THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER. 

the  hand  ;  and  the  hand  without  the  heart.  If 
Katie's  heart  were  conquered,  her  hand  would 
have  to  be  won  ;  and  toward  winning  her  hand  Joe 
Bently  has  not  taken  a  single  step.  Katie  did 
not  know  what  it  was  that  held  Joe  back.  She 
was  inclined  to  think  it  was  a  faint  heart.  He 
could  be  brave  as  a  lion  in  a  tempest,  counted  his 
life  as  nothing  in  the  face  of  duty,  but  in  this 
affair  he  seemed  the  rawest  recruit  she  had  ever 
heard  of ;  there  wasn't  a  particle  of  the  hero  about 
him. 

Had  Katie  known  of  the  war  that  was  raging  in 
Joe's  breast,  how  different  it  would  have  been  ! 
His  love  for  her  and  his  conviction  of  duty  to  her 
parents,  as  we  know,  have  been  waging  incessant 
warfare  within  him,  and  his  stern  sense  of  duty 
had  so  far  won  the  day.  Had  Katie  known  this, 
she  might  have  helped  Joe  out  of  some  of  his  dif- 
ficulties. As  it  was,  this  cadet  must  humbly  and 
persistently  woo  her.  If  she  was  essential  to  his 
happiness,  he  must  not  be  afraid  to  risk  his  all  in 
gaining  that  happiness,  as  she  had  been  taught 
that  good  things  are  sometimes  to  be  won. 

And  did  Katie  know  Joe's  secret  ?  Certainly 
she  did.  And  she  had  known  it  ever  since  it  took 
that  little  leap  across  her  path  on  the  day  of  the 
reception.  And  after  that  she  had  caught  not  a  few 
glimpses  of  it,  as  it  darted  quite  unconsciously  to 
Joe  from  its  hiding-place,  like  some  small  creature 


THE     RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER.  397 

of  the  woods.  Secrets  of  the  heart,  we  know, 
like  the  little  nimble-footed  creatures  of  the  brush, 
will  keep  glimpsing  into  view.  Coverts  of  the 
heart  abound  in  open  spaces.  And  Katie  now 
knew  what  was  in  Joe's  heart. 

But  was  Joe  still  ignorant  of  what  had  taken 
place  with  Katie  ?  Somewhat  so.  He  had  noted 
a  few  things  in  her  which  led  him  to  suspect  that 
she  did  not  altogether  regard  him  in  the  light  of 
that  poor,  but  worthy  young  man.  There  was 
more  warmth  in  her  manner  toward  him,  and  ever 
since  he  had  brought  the  yacht  safely  back  to  Bar 
Harbor,  he  had  observed  a  disposition  in  her  to 
make  much  of  what  he  had  done.  He  told  her 
that  anybody,  with  a  good  knowledge  of  seaman- 
ship, could  have  done  all  that  he  did,  but  Katie 
would  not  be  convinced.  Neither  would  any  of 
the  rest  of  them,  for  that  matter,  unless  it  was 
Mrs.  Pepper,  and  her  views  on  the  subject  were 
not  asked  for.  Harry,  it  may  be  said,  declared  that 
Joe,  by  his  skill  and  bravery,  had  saved  the  lives 
of  all  of  them,  and  this  had  been  the  general  con- 
viction on  board  the  yacht.  But  Joe,  in  his 
modesty,  felt  that  he  was  receiving  undeserved 
praise,  and  this  he  stoutly  maintained,  whenever 
Katie  or  anybody  else  undertook  to  make  a  hero 
of  him.  Still  he  noticed  that  the  yachting  expedi- 
tion had  somehow  been  a  turning  point  with 
Katie   in  her    conduct    toward    him.     If    nothing 


398  the   rising  young   lawyer. 

more,  it  was  evident  to  him  now  that  he  had  risen 
greatly  in  her  esteem.  And  he  sometimes  thought 
he  might  even  win  the  love  of  this  young  girl, 
after  all  that  had  taken  place.  However,  he  made 
no  conscious  effort  to  do  so.  And  thus  things 
went  on  till  the  Daybreak  was  ordered  to  Norfolk 
to  get  ready  for  her  new  station.  Slowly  but 
surely  the  hearts  of  these  young  people  had  been 
knit  together,  but  no  word  of  revelation  had  been 
spoken  between  them. 

As  a  story  must  be  told  something  as  a  seam  is 
sewed  up  by  hand  —  every  stitch  being  in  part  a 
back  stitch  —  it  must  be  here  asked  whether  Katie 
knew  of  Mrs.  Pepper's  real  design  in  getting  her 
to  Providence.  Katie  knew  absolutely  nothing 
about  it.  Her  aunt,  to  be  sure,  had  often  spoken 
of  her  young  friend  in  her  presence,  but  her 
allusions  were  not  of  a  sort  to  awaken  suspicion. 
From  what  she  had  said,  Katie  gathered  that  the 
young  lawyer  was  the  most  gifted  mortal  that  had 
ever  appeared  on  this  planet ;  that  when  nature 
shot  him  from  her  bow,  her  eye  was  on  a  shining 
mark  —  nothing  less  than  the  chief-justiceship  of 
his  country,  or  its  Presidential  chair,  and  the  force 
of  that  bright  shaft  would  not  expend  itself  till  it 
was  securely  planted  in  one  or  the  other  of  these 
high  offices.  But  granting  all  this,  had  Katie 
known  that  her  auntie  intended  that  that  arrow 
should  feather  itself  in  its  flight  —  such  a  strange 


THE     RISING    YOUNG     LAWYER.  399 

thing  for  an  arrow  to  do  —  with  her  sweet  little 
self,  she  would  never  have  gone  to  Providence. 
Katie  is  so  impracticable  in  all  these  matters  !  If 
she  had  been  an  insignificant  mole-hill,  which  a 
mountain  might  be  conceived  as  desiring  to  wed, 
the  mountain  would  have  been  obliged  to  come  to 
the  mole-hill. 

Katie  went  to  Providence.  While  Joe  Bently 
was  gazing  upon  the  Southern  Cross,  thinking  of 
Katie,  Katie  was  gazing  upon  the  rising  young 
lawyer,  thinking  of  Joe  Bently. 

This  young  man  is  entitled  to  a  little  attention, 
for  Mrs.  Pepper  has  imposed  the  task  upon  us. 
He  is  not,  perhaps,  just  ill-looking,  but  by  no  means 
is  he  good-looking.  He  is  more  short  than  tall, 
more  square  than  round,  more  red  than  white. 
His  face  is  thickly  strown  with  freckles  ;  so  much 
so  as  to  suggest  wanton  wastefulness. 

But  as  Mrs.  Pepper  was  once  heard  to  say,  "  He's 
such  a  manly  boy,  you  know."  To  conclude,  we 
may  add,  that  in  attractiveness  of  person  our 
cadet  had  this  young  lawyer  at  a  great  disadvan- 
tage. But  what  is  the  mere  husk,  the  case,  the 
shell,  Mrs.  Pepper  would  ask,  to  that  which  it 
enshrines?  "Why,"  said  she,  "people  forget  that 
the  glow-worm  is  a  worm  when  it  begins  to  shine." 
From  which  we  must  not  infer  that  she  was  liken- 
ing her  young  friend  to  a  worm,  but  that  she 
simply   meant   when    his    bright    gifts   once   com- 


400  THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER. 

menced  shining  his  physical  discouragements  would 
be  forgotten ;  oblivion  itself  would  swallow  up  his 
uncomeliness. 

But  the  young  lawyer  did  not  impress  Katie 
more  favorably  as  an  intellectual,  than  as  a 
physical  being.  His  mind,  so  far  as  she  was  able 
to  catch  glimpses  of  it,  had  an  incomplete  look. 

Katie  was  not  long  deprived  of  the  acquaintance 
and  society  of  this  young  man  after  her  arrival  in 
Providence.  She  nad  been  in  her  aunt's  house 
just  fifty  minutes  when  he  called  to  pay  his  respects 
to  her.  Gladly  would  she  have  taken  a  little  rest 
after  her  journey,  but  Mrs.  Pepper  insisted  that 
she  should  come  down  at  once.  As  soon  as  the 
introduction  was  over  the  young  people  were  left 
to  themselves.  Mrs.  Pepper  withdrew,  ostensibly 
to  superintend  the  preparations  for  dinner,  not  a 
minute  less  than  two  hours  distant.  Inasmuch  as 
the  young  lawyer  was  to  honor  them  with  his 
presence  at  dinner,  it  was,  therefore,  more  than 
likely  that  Katie  would  have  him  all  to  herself 
during  that  time.  Truly  fortune  had  smiled  upon 
Katie  ! 

In  a  social  sense,  to  go  on  with  this  rambling 
description,  this  young  man  was  the  antithesis  of 
Joe  Bently.  Generally  when  Joe  and  Katie  had 
been  together  she  had  done  the  talking  and  he  the 
listening ;  in  this  case,  the  young  lawyer  did  the 
talking     and    Katie    the    listening:.       In    another 


THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER.  4OI 

respect,  Joe  and  the  young  lawyer  differed.  Only 
as  he  might  be  driven  by  stress  of  circumstances 
would  Joe  ever  talk  about  himself  ;  and  nothing, 
however  compelling,  could  make  this  young  lawyer 
talk  about  anything  but  himself.  He  seemed  to 
regard  Katie's  imagination  as  so  much  sensitized 
paper  upon  which  he  was  to  print  such  negatives 
of  himself  as  would  be  most  flattering  to  his  self- 
esteem,  and  most  destructive  of  Katie's  peace  of 
mind.  And  he  did  not  dally  with  this  work,  nor 
subject  Katie  to  the  exasperation  of  delay.  This 
young  man  had  had  many  conferences  with  Mrs. 
Pepper  in  regard  to  Katie.  He  had  come  to 
believe,  stimulated  by  Mrs.  Pepper's  assurances, 
that  all  it  would  be  necessary  to  do  was  to  reach 
forth  his  hand,  and  Katie  —  tame,  affectionate  little 
bird  that  she  was  — -  would  flutter  right  into  his 
palm.  In  truth,  this  young  man  had  a  feeling  that 
in  his  presence  girls  stood  spell-bound  like  deer 
among  the  lily-pads  in  the  glare  of  a  hunter's  jack. 
Katie  had  not  been  at  her  auntie's  a  day  before 
Mrs.  Pepper  informed  her  that  half  the  girls  in 
Providence  were  in  love  with  Roger  (Roger  was 
his  name),  which  set  her  wondering  what  in  the 
world  the  other  half  could  be  thinking  about  that 
they  were  not  in  love  with  him,  too. 

On  his  first  visit,  this  young  lawyer  devoted 
himself  chiefly  to  his  autobiography.  Katie  could 
have  repeated  countless  pages  of  it,  had  she  next 


402  THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER. 

day  assigned  herself  such  a  task.  She  knew  more 
about  him  the  first  fifteen  minutes  of  their  acquaint- 
ance than  she  had  known  about  Joe  Bently  all  her 
life.  His  struggles,  his  aspirations,  his  successes, 
his  inevitable  destiny  were  poured  into  Katie's 
ears  as  if  they  were  tormented  with  insatiable 
greed.  Such  gilded  prophecies  as  he  uttered, 
touching  his  own  future ;  such  pictures  as  he 
drew  ! 

Katie  was  disappointed,  however,  in  what  he 
said  of  the  law.  From  what  Mrs.  Pepper  had  told 
her  she  had  conceived  the  notion  that  his  love  for 
his  profession  was  consuming  him.  Katie  now  saw 
that  his  ambition  was  for  a  political  career.  The 
law  was  no  field  for  him. 

His  spurs  were  to  be  won  in  the  broad  domain  of 
public  affairs.  The  law  was  merely  to  hold  the 
stirrup  for  him  while  he  flung  himself  on  the  back 
of  his  destiny.  He  informed  Katie  that  all  the 
leadings  of  his  mind  were  toward  the  service  of 
the  State.  "  Not  the  little,  ungrowthful  Rhode 
Island,"  he  explained,  fearing  she  might  misappre- 
hend his  meaning,  "but  the  State,  the  country." 
He  told  her  that  already  he  had  begun  to  speak 
on  questions  of  public  interest  and  policy.  Only 
the  night  before  he  had  spoken  at  a  large  meet- 
ing. Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he  smote 
his  hands  together  with  a  clap  which  nearly 
started   Katie  from  her  chair,  exclaiming,   "And 


THE     RISING    YOUNG     LAWYER.  403 

the  people  did  that !  It  won't  be  the  last  time, 
either,"  he  added.  He  promised  to  take  Katie 
down  to  hear  his  next  speech.  However,  just  as 
the  young  lawyer  landed  on  the  steps  of  the  White 
House,  after  a  splendid  barge-like  passage  along 
the  grand  canal  of  civil  preferment,  the  dinner- 
bell  tinkled,  and  seizing  his  hastily-offered  arm, 
Katie  stepped  from  vision  to  reality. 

Time  would  fail  to  follow  in  detail  the  attempts 
of  this  young  lawyer,  with  Mrs.  Pepper's  invalua- 
ble assistance,  to  win  the  pretty  Katie.  Indeed, 
the  mere  acquisition  of  this  treasure  at  first  gave 
him  the  least  concern.  Before  he  had  seen  her, 
even,  he  decided  that  he  would  marry  her.  And 
the  first  two  days  of  her  visit  at  Mrs.  Pepper's  she 
was  to  him  as  a  bird  in  the  hand.  After  that, 
she  was  a  bird  in  the  bush,  and  the  most  aggrava- 
ting little  bird  which  fancies  of  his  sort  ever  un- 
dertook to  capture.  He  thought  at  first  she  could 
not  see  too  much  of  him.  He  had  told  Mrs.  Pep- 
per that  he  wanted  Miss  Aston  to  know  him  thor- 
oughly before  their  engagement.  And  Mrs.  Pep- 
per said  she  thought  it  very  honorable  of  him.  He 
furthermore  confided  to  Mrs.  Pepper  that  little  by 
little  he  could  break  to  Miss  Aston  the  qualities 
he  expected  in  a  wife,  and  she,  doubtless,  being  a 
right-minded  girl,  would  set  about  preparing  to  ful- 
fill his  expectations.  Mrs.  Pepper  remarked  that 
Katie  was  a  good  girl,  a  little  willful  and  perverse 


404  THE     RISING    YOUNG     LAWYER. 

at  times,  but,  on  the  whole,  teachable  and  manage- 
able. She  was  likewise  very  tender-hearted,  which 
the  young  lawyer  said  he  was  glad  to  know. 

So  he  began  the  wooing.  As  we  have  seen,  the 
first  thing  he  did  was  to  reveal  to  her  his  passion 
for  distinction.  He  showed  her  what  he  was 
going  to  be.  She  was  going  to  be  the  sharer  of  his 
renown,  and  she  might  just  as  well  be  given  a 
sight  of  it  first  as  last ;  though,  cf  course,  he  would 
not  permit  her  to  know  for  some  time  her  personal 
connection  with  it.  He  would  reserve  that  as  a 
delightful  surprise  for  the  near  future.  But  it 
was  well  enough  now  not  to  conceal  the  triumphs 
and  excitements  of  his  career  from  the  one  who  was 
to  be  his  constant  and  worshipful  partner  in  it. 
It  was  an  excellent  plan,  he  thought,  to  begin  at 
once  to  establish  a  mutuality  of  interest  between 
them.  Then,  too,  it  would  fire  and  ennoble  her 
ambition ;  excite  an  envious  longing  in  her  for 
participation  in  the  transports  of  a  bright  future 
like  his.  In  a  word,  he  would  make  her  an  enthu- 
siast over  his  pictured  life  before  ever  she  dreamed 
that  she  was  to  be  the  bona  fide  participant  in  its 
supreme  realizations.  This  is  an  accurate  although 
an  imperfect  rescript  of  the  young  lawyer's  mind 
when  first  he  began  to  pay  his  addresses  to  Katie. 

As  to  Katie,  poor  bewildered  young  thing  that 
she  was,  on  that  first  visit  she  could  not  understand 
the  young  lawyer  at  all.      Why  should    she  ?     If 


THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER.  405 

she  had  failed  to  grasp  the  abstractions  of  the 
mathematical  mind,  as  in  the  case  of  a  naval  cadet, 
how  could  she  penetrate  the  subtleties  of  the 
legal  mind,  as  in  the  case  of  the  rising  young  law- 
yer ?  His  motive  in  reposing  such  vast  confidence 
in  her  she  could  not  fathom.  She  could  not  see 
why  he  had  assumed  such  an  absorbing  interest 
on  her  part  in  his  career.  He  talked  as  though 
her  one  pursuit  in  life  would  be  noting  the  fulfill- 
ment of  the  prophecies  he  uttered  concerning  him- 
self. He  seemed  to  take  it  for  granted  that  her 
interest  in  him  would  henceforth  run  in  as  close 
and  parallel  relations  with  his  ambition  as  exist 
between  a  railroad  and  a  telegraph  line.  But  Katie 
never  had  been  able  to  understand  young  men. 

However,  when  the  young  lawyer  came  round 
the  next  afternoon  to  ask  Katie  to  walk  down  town 
with  him,  she  would  not  leave  the  house  without  a 
chaperon.  Mrs.  Pepper  tried  to  reason  with  the 
willful  girl,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  Katie  said  she 
knew  her  mamma  and  papa  expected  that  she 
should  be  very  careful,  and  on  no  account  would 
she  displease  them.  Mrs.  Pepper  hinted  that  it 
had  been  very  different  at  Bar  Harbor.  But  Katie 
was  slow  at  taking  hints.  In  a  few  days  Mrs. 
Pepper  observed  a  strange  desire  on  Katie's  part 
not  to  be  absent  from  her  a  moment  when  the 
young  lawyer  was  in  the  house.  The  second  day 
that  Roger  dined  with  them  Mrs.  Pepper  withdrew, 


406  THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER. 

as  on  the  first  occasion,  and  Katie  followed  her. 
She  had  often  told  her  aunt  that  she  enjoyed  help- 
ing about  dinner  very  much ;  and  she  now  ex- 
plained that  if  she  were  away  from  home  it  was  no 
reason  why  she  shouldn't  be  useful. 

"But,  you  absurd  girl  —  dear,  I  mean,"  said  Mrs. 
Pepper,  when  they  had  reached  the  kitchen,  "don't 
you  see  you're  leaving  Roger  all  alone  ? " 

"  I  know,  Auntie,  but  he  brought  up  '  Reminis- 
cences of  a  Great  Public  Career,'  and  '  How  We 
Are  Governed,'  to  read,"  innocently  replied  Katie. 

"Isn't  Roger  a  splendid  fellow,  dear?  "  said  Mrs. 
Pepper,  with  one  of  her  abrupt  transitions. 

"O,  Betty!  I'll  mash  that  squash  for  you,"  ex- 
claimed Katie,  seizing  the  mashing  instrument 
from  the  cook  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  graduate 
from  a  cookery  school. 

"  She  didn't  hear  me,"  said  Mrs.  Pepper  to  her- 
self. "The  girl  that  gets  him  will  secure  a  prize," 
she  went  on. 

"That  will  make  the  girl  that  doesn't  get  him 
dreadfully  envious,"  thought  Katie.  "Auntie," 
she  said  aloud,  "how  much  oleo  —  butter,  I  say  — 
do  you  put  in  this  squash?" 

For  the  next  few  minutes  Katie  was  absorbed 
in  the  preparation  of  the  squash.  She  seemed  to 
have  no  other  thought  save  the  one  in  which  she 
was  engaged. 

Did  this  young  lawyer  propose  to  Katie  ?     Yes, 


THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER.  407 

the  young  lawyer  did  propose  to  Katie.  And  be- 
fore a  week  had  passed  ;  it  was  inevitable.  He 
was  one  of  those  rocks  in  the  sea  of  life  which 
girls  like  Katie  are  almost  certain  to  encounter. 
But  there  had  been  such  a  fall  of  tide  around  this 
particular  rock  that  Katie  knew  what  was  coming. 

The  young  lawyer  took  advantage  of  one  of 
Mrs.  Pepper's  sudden  disappearances  from  the 
drawing-room  to  inform  Katie  that  since  he  had 
seen  her  he  had  been  wholly  given  over  to  idolatry. 
He  had  recognized  in  her  the  sun  of  his  life.  His 
whole  being  had  been  suffused  with  a  light  from 
her.  He  adored  her.  He  was  a  fire-worshiper 
in  his  devotion  to  her.  He  prostrated  himself 
(in  metaphor)  before  her  as  an  ancient  Persian  be- 
fore the  rising  sun.  The  richness  of  his  symbol- 
ism confused  Katie.  To  be  called  a  sun,  a  star, 
an  idol,  a  superb  flower,  a  creature  of  beautiful 
plumage  as  the  young  lawyer  persisted  in  doing, 
would  bewilder  a  girl  a  good  deal  older  than  Katie. 
But  she  collected  herself  sufficiently  to  tell  the 
young  lawyer  that  she  did  not  fulfill  his  ideal  in 
any  single  particular,  and  that  while  she  was  grate- 
ful for  his  high  opinion  of  her,  his  good  sense 
should  teach  him  that  a  proposition  of  marriage  to 
a  girl  away  from  her  parents,  neither  of  whom  he 
had  ever  seen,  and  whose  mind  on  the  subject  he 
knew  nothing  about,  was  hardly  becoming. 

But  he  would  not  giv§  it  up  even  then.     As  she 


408  THE    RISING    YOUNG    LAWYER. 

was  such  a  bright  being  to  him  he  implored  her 
to  tell  him  if  he  did  not  sustain  the  relations  of  a 
luminary  to  her.  Katie  could  not  be  untruthful, 
and  she  promptly  told  him  that  he  did  not.  Then 
this  young  lawyer  grew  very  red  in  the  face,  and 
resolved  to  bring  the  matter  to  an  issue. 

"Will  you  marry  me  ? "  he  said,  in  a  most  deter- 
mined tone. 

"No;  I  won't,"  said  Katie,  with  flashing  eyes, 
jumping  up  and  leaving  the  room. 

Mrs.  Pepper  made  no  scene  over  this.  The  next 
afternoon,  however,  Katie  had  put  forty  miles  be- 
tween herself  and  her  aunt  and  the  rising  young 
lawyer.  In  high  spirits  she  was  dashing  along  the 
Brighton  Road  with  Miss  Maud  and  Ned  Brent- 
ford on  a  magnificent  sleigh-ride,  all  three  inter- 
ested in  the  latest  news  from  the  United  States 
Ship  Daybreak. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS    HAND. 

IN  one  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  those  great 
fragments  of  our  continental  arm,  broken  in 
its  endeavor  to  hold  Asia  in  its  grasp,  some  little 
distance  back  from  a  curved  and  pebbly  beach, 
stands  a  minute  village.  It  impresses  the  stranger 
as  a  brave,  hardy  little  town,  holding  to  its  place 
as  thriftily  as  the  circumpolar  Sphagnum  shining  so 
golden  on  the  mountain  slopes  around  it.  This 
town  consists  of  little  more  than  an  irregular  row 
of  single-story  frame  cottages,  a  Greek  church  of 
good  size,  and  a  fine  parsonage.  The  parsonage 
adjoins  the  church,  and  at  the  immediate  time  of 
which  we  write,  serves  two  purposes.  It  is  the 
residence  of  the  faithful  priest  who  presides  over 
the  flock  of  Christians  here,  and  a  hospital  as 
well. 

In  this  good  priest's  house  the  surprise  of  this 
story  awaits  us.  For  here,  lying  upon  a  little  cot, 
just  recovering  from  a  dangerous  illness,  is  our 
hero,  Joe  Bently.  Nor  is  he  alone  among  strangers. 
Friends  are  around  him,  devoting  watchful  and 
409 


410  IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND. 

loving  service  at  his  bedside.  Harry,  Coverly 
and  Lieutenant  Bloomsbury  are  temporarily  dom- 
iciled here. 

What  strange  fortune  has  brought  them  to  this 
far-off  shore  ?  Does  the  little  Daybreak  lie  quietly 
at  anchor  before  the  town  ?  We  look  in  vain  for 
her  familiar  spars  and  smokestack  in  the  harbor ; 
listen  in  vain  for  some  shouted  order,  shrill  note 
of  boatswain's  whistle,  or  loud  clamor  of  drum  and 
fife  to  awaken  the  echoes  of  the  surrounding  hills, 
and  to  startle  the  sea-lions  from  the  sunny  reefs 
hard  by  the  abrupt  and  cruel  shores.  The  only 
seaward  sound  falling  upon  our  ear  is  the  steady 
rush  and  beat  of  waves  against  basaltic  walls. 
Why,  then,  are  Joe  and  his  three  shipmates 
stranded  here  ?  This  question  the  unread  pages 
before  us  must  answer. 

On  her  way  to  the  Pacific  the  Daybreak  touched 
at  two  places  on  the  east  coast  of  South  America, 
Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Montevideo.  And  so  delighted 
was  Joe  with  the  first  of  these  places,  that  he 
wrote  Katie  a  long,  and  in  some  respects,  won- 
derful description  of  it. 

It  must  here  be  mentioned  that  just  before 
leaving  Bar  Harbor,  Joe  worked  his  courage  up  to 
the  point  of  asking  Mr.  Aston's  permission  to 
correspond  with  Katie  during  his  cruise.  And 
the  readiness  with  which  it  was  granted  set  his 
heart  all  a-flutter.      What  a  contrast  between  the 


IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND.  4II 

outgoing  cadet  and  the  incoming  cadet  of  two 
months  before  ! 

A  number  of  letters  had  thus  passed  between 
Joe  and  Katie  while  the  Daybreak  lay  at  Norfolk ; 
but  he  had  felt  no  such  enthusiasm  for  writing  as 
that  which  came  upon  him  at  Rio,  the  wonder 
city  of  the  Southern  Hemisphere.  He  wrote  just 
one  letter,  however,  to  Katie  from  this  point, 
costing  so  much  for  postage  that  she  feared  he 
would  not  be  able  to  pay  his  next  month's  mess 
bill.  It  required  just  one  thousand  reis  to  send  it. 
In  the  letter  Joe  showed  Katie  how  the  Brazilians 
express  this  enormous  sum,  writing  it  thus : 
1  $000.  He  furthermore  said  that  Harry,  Schopy 
and  himself  had  gotten  breakfast  on  shore  that  very 
morning,  for  which  they  had  jointly  paid  io$ooo 
(reis).  In  her  reply  to  this  letter,  Katie  lectured 
Joe  for  being  such  a  prodigal.  She  said  if  he 
kept  on  ordering  breakfasts  of  that  kind,  he  would 
soon  be  as  hopelessly  bankrupt  as  poor  Schopy. 

But  the  bulk  of  Joe's  letter  consisted  of  florid, 
cadet-like  descriptions  of  natural  scenery  and 
conditions.  "Think,"  he  said,  "of  being  in  a  place 
where  the  birds  do  not  know  there  is  any  season 
but  summer ;  where  the  flowers  never  forget  to 
blossom  the  livelong  year;  where  snow-flakes 
would  astonish  the  children  more  than  a  fall  of 
feathers  from  the  wings  of  unseen  angels."  The 
account    closed   with   the    statement   that   beyond 


412  IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS    HAND. 

doubt  the  earliest  inhabitant  of  this  region  was 
Adam. 

At  Montevideo,  however,  Joe's  first  impressions 
of  South  America  received  a  rude  shock.  No 
sooner  had  they  come  to  anchor,  than  that  almost 
omnipotent  wind,  the  pcmpcro,  came  booming 
down  upon  them.  Men  were  swept  from  the  top- 
gallant forecastle  and  drowned,  boats  carried 
away,  and  the  ship  herself  well-nigh  driven  upon 
the  beach.  Nor  was  the  passage  to  Magellan 
Straits  much  better.  Huge  seas,  rolling  up  un- 
obstructed from  the  pole,  confronted  them.  Slowly 
as  an  Alpine  traveler,  the  Daybreak  toiled  over 
them,  taking  weary  weeks  for  what,  with  favoring 
winds,  would  have  been  a  passage  of  not  many 
days. 

The  first  port  they  stopped  at  in  the  Pacific  was 
Valparaiso.  Little  Chili  at  that  time  was  bristling 
up  behind  her  iron  clads  ;  and  it  was  thought  the 
Daybreak's  presence  at  her  chief  port  might  cool 
the  temper  of  the  saucy,  pugnacious  little  power. 
One  month  was  thus  spent  at  Valparaiso,  and  they 
were  off  for  Coquimbo,  Callao  and  Panama.  Three 
sweltering  weeks  were  spent  at  Panama ;  happy 
weeks,  nevertheless,  to  Joe.  Each  week  brought  a 
long  letter  from  Katie,  and  he  would  have  cheer- 
fully finished  his  cruise  at  the  pole  or  the  equator 
with  such  a  reward  as  this.  From  Panama  they 
flew  as  fast  as  wind  and  steam  could  drive  them 


IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND.  413 

to  San  Francisco  ;  and  at  San  Francisco  they  were 
ordered  to  proceed  with  all  dispatch  to  the  Aleu- 
tian Islands  for  the  protection  of  the  seal  fisheries. 

No  sooner  had  they  reached  these  islands,  than 
a  busy  life  began.  They  were  not  only  to  warn 
off  marauders  from  the  seal  rookeries,  but  to  do 
surveying  as  well.  But  little  of  such  work  had 
been  accomplished,  and  navigation  among  the 
islands  was  attended  with  considerable  difficulty 
and  risk.  Mr.  Moncrief  was  in  his  element.  From 
morning  till  night  he  kept  boats  out,  and  the  lead 
was  in  constant  use.  Old  channels  were  more 
accurately  defined,  coast-lines  and  headlands  more 
carefully  drawn,  and  an  extensive  revision  of  the 
charts  undertaken.  In  the  work  of  sketching, 
Schopy's  talent  proved  quite  wonderful.  Once 
fully  occupied,  he  forgot  all  about  his  disaffection 
with  the  Navy,  and  sketched  with  admirable  facility 
and  skill.  He  had  found  his  place  for  the  first 
time  during  the  cruise. 

It  was  glorious  among  these  cloud-compelling, 
fog-haunted,  seal-inhabited  islands,  standing  out 
on  each  clear  day  so  wildly  beautiful,  so  grandly 
solemn.  Sailing  among  them  was  a  never-ending 
delight.  Of  rare  beauty  were  the  scenes,  often 
shifting  as  rapidly  as  views  from  a  winding  river. 
It  was  an  ever-changing  vision,  colored  with  ex- 
quisite tints,  varied  in  the  oblique  northern  beams 
by  long,  fantastic  shadows.      Everybody  felt  that 


414  IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND. 

glowing  exhilaration  which  comes  from  such  sur- 
roundings. Through  these  weird  straits  and 
passes,  over  these  charming  bays,  appearing  in  the 
distance  like  land-locked  lakes,  along  by  rugged 
shores  inaccessible  as  walled  cities,  past  pretty 
harbors  where,  in  the  wildest  tempest,  the  Day- 
break could  have  rested  as  quiet  as  a  statue  in  its 
niche ;  amid  all  this,  as  Joe  expressed  it  in  a  letter 
to  Katie,  he  could  have  sailed  on  and  on  forever. 
Though  if  Katie  had  received  the  letter  she  never 
would  have  believed  it. 

Then  that  most  beautiful  of  volcanoes,  Shis- 
haldin  !  How  it  awed  and  fascinated  the  cadets  ! 
Joe  declared,  in  the  same  letter,  that  it  was  worth 
a  trip  around  the  world  to  see.  No  wayward,  un- 
shapely peak  is  this.  In  fairest  symmetry  it  rises 
eight  thousand  feet.  It  seems  a  mighty  work  of 
sculpture;  a  monument  of  things  long  perished. 
How  royally  it  stands  forth,  its  lofty  cone  white 
with  perpetual  snow,  its  rounded  base,  washed  on 
the  south  by  the  Pacific  and  on  the  north  by 
Behring  Sea,  and  clothed  in  richest  green,  its  whole 
vast  form  taking  on  wonderful  colors  in  the  slant- 
ing ever-changeful  summer  light ! 

And  of  surpassing  interest,  also,  to  Joe,  was  the 
connection  of  this  northern  archipelago  with  great 
questions  of  history  and  science.  For  are  not 
these  islands  the  massive  ruined  piers  of  a  once 
vast  natural  bridge  ;  a  highway  between  continents  ? 


IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND.  4 1  5 

And  was  it  not  along  this  ruined  way  that  the 
first  stream  of  emigration  flowed  from  Asiatic 
shores  ?  These  problems,  with  many  other  things 
connected  with  these  islands,  were  matters  of  daily 
discussion  and  investigation  with  our  young 
friends. 

But  our  story  must  not  longer  be  delayed. 
And  if,  upon  joining  our  hero,  his  way  may  lead 
for  a  time  into  shadows,  we  must  not  allow  him  to 
travel  it  alone.  If,  as  we  have  suspected,  trouble 
has  befallen  him  and  the  comrades  at  his  side, 
we  surely  do  not  wish  to  pass  it  by.  Our  friends 
belong  to  us  in  their  sorrows  as  well  as  in  their  joys  ; 
in  the  evil  which  casts  them  down  as  well  as  the 
good  which  lifts  them  up. 

The  Daybreak  had  finished  her  work,  and  was 
about  to  bid  farewell  to  the  Aleutian  Islands.  For 
this  purpose  she  was  making  her  way  to  the  town 
above  described.  There  she  would  take  in  such 
stores  as  could  be  obtained,  and  thence  sail  for 
Sitka.  As  night  fell,  she  crept  out  from  among  a 
group  of  small  islands  into  the  safety  of  the  open 
sea.  Toward  midnight  one  of  the  largest  islands 
of  the  archipelago  was  upon  the  port  beam.  A 
moderate  gale  was  blowing,  and  the  ship  was 
making  twelve  knots  under  steam  and  sail.  She 
was  carrying  the  fore  storm-stay-sail,  double-reefed 
foresail,  and  close-reefed  maintopsail.  A  high 
sea  was  running,  which  could  be  heard  pounding 


4l6  IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND. 

wildly  against  the  precipitous  shore.  The  sky 
was  somewhat  overcast,  but  the  moon  and  stars 
shone  through.  It  was  a  bracing  night,  such  as 
Joe  loved  to  spend  on  watch.  He  was  in  the  fore- 
castle, receiving  upon  his  sou'wester  with  a  smile, 
the  showers  of  spray  with  which  it  seemed  the 
Daybreak's  delight  to  drench  him. 

Soon  the  wind  had  increased  to  such  force  that 
it  became  necessary  to  reduce  sail.  Joe  had  never 
seen  the  ship  make  such  speed  before.  But  he 
did  not  just  like  the  roar  of  the  sea  over  against 
the  island  whose  frowning  cliffs  stood  out  quite 
clearly  in  the  straggling  moonbeams.  It  was 
with  relief,  a  moment  later>  that  he  heard  Captain 
Farradale,  who  was  standing  on  the  poop,  give  an 
order  to  starboard  the  helm.  As  the  ship  turned 
seaward,  forgetting  his  slight  uneasiness,  he  con- 
gratulated himself  on  the  splendid  run  she  was 
making.  In  a  week's  time,  perhaps,  she  would  be 
in  Sitka.  And  then,  and  then,  and  then,  letters 
from  Katie !  Never  did  barometer  take  such  a 
leap  upward  as  Joe's  spirits  at  this  thought. 

Ten  minutes  to  eight  bells  came,  and  Joe 
was  ordered  to  lay  aft  to  heave  the  log.  Five 
minutes  were  occupied  in  this  work.  He  reported 
a  speed  of  thirteen  knots  to  the  captain  and  the 
officer  of  the  deck.  Marking  it  on  the  log,  he 
resumed  his  station.  The  starboard  watch  now 
came  tumbling  up  from  below.      Harry,  who  was 


IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND.  417 

his  relief,  simultaneously  appeared.  Joe  stood 
steadying  himself,  in  the  plunging  of  the  ship, 
against  the  fore  fife-rail.  In  this  position  he  began 
giving  an  account  of  his  watch  to  Harry. 

Scarcely  had  a  dozen  words  been  spoken  when 
there  came  a  dreadful  shock,  such  as  can  only  be 
felt,  never  described.  Upon  a  sunken  rock,  not 
down  on  any  chart,  the  Daybreak  had  struck ; 
struck  as  a  locomotive  strikes  against  some  huge 
bowlder  fallen  in  the  darkness  upon  its  track. 
Like  the  noble  animal  in  a  Spanish  ring  sheathing 
the  espada  s  sword  in  his  fiery  heart,  the  Day- 
break had  quickly  met  her  fate,  and  lay  in  her 
death-throes  upon  the  pitiless  sea. 

Joe  was  flung  violently  to  the  deck.  Why  he 
was  not  instantly  killed  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
The  foretopmast  snapped  short  off,  and  crashed 
within  a  foot  of  where  he  fell.  A  large  mass  of 
rigging  came  down  all  around  him.  Before  he 
could  regain  his  feet  a  sea  broke  over  the  bows, 
and  swept  him  with  tremendous  force  against  a 
heap  of  debris,  from  which,  with  utmost  difficulty, 
he  extricated  himself. 

In  abandoning  ship  he  had  been  assigned  to  the 
captain's  gig,  and  he  now  began  to  work  his  way 
aft.  He  saw  that  the  ship  was  rapidly  going 
down.  All  around  him  men  were  struggling  to 
free  themselves  from  the  top  hamper,  which  cum- 
bered the  deck  along  its  whole  length.      It  was  a 


41 8  IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS    HAND. 

terrible  thought  to  Joe,  that  underneath  it  many  of 
the  crew  must  have  already  perished.  A  glance 
showed  him  the  little  chance  the  living  had  for 
escape.  Every  boat  on  the  starboard  side  had 
been  crushed  by  the  falling  spars  and  yards.  On 
the  port  side,  also,  several  of  them  had  met  the 
same  fate. 

A  loud  cry  was  raised,  he  knew  not  by  whom, 
to  abandon  ship  by  any  means.  It  had  become 
evident  that  there  could  be  no  concerted,  disci- 
plined action.  Men  struggled  for  life-preservers, 
halyard  racks  —  anything  that  came  to  hand.  The 
few  uninjured  boats  were  cut  away.  With  a  great 
plunge  the  sailing  launch  went  head  foremost  into 
the  sea,  filling  in  a  twinkling.  The  other  boats 
were  thrashed  so  violently  against  the  ship's  side 
that  nobody  dared  drop  into  them.  #  The  fear  was, 
that  they  would  go  under  with  the  ship,  or  be 
beaten  in  pieces  against  her  side. 

Our  hero  reached  the  after  part  of  the  ship. 
His  courage  freshened  at  the  sight  of  Captain 
Farradale.  Apparently  he  had  not  been  hurt  by 
the  fragments  of  yards  and  spars  that  had  fallen 
about  him.  He  stood  upon  the  poop,  surveying  in 
the  now  bright  moonlight  his  shattered,  sinking 
ship.  He  was  making  not  the  slightest  effort  to 
save  himself.  Joe  climbed  up  to  where  he  stood, 
and  to  his  dying  day,  he  will  never  forget  the  look 
that  was  on  his  face.      Such  sorrow  was  depicted 


IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND.  419 

there,  such  pity  for  the  brave  officers  and  men 
now  struggling  in  the  face  of  death,  that  Joe's 
heart  was  wrung  with  anguish  at  the  sight.  And 
in  it  all  not  a  thought  had  the  captain  seemed  to 
bestow  upon  himself. 

"What  brought  you  here,  Bently?"  said  the 
captain  hastily,  turning  upon  him  the  same  look  of 
pity. 

"  My  station  is  with  you,  sir,  in  abandoning 
ship,"  replied  Joe,  in  a  choking  voice. 

"  It's  of  no  use  now.  You  must  save  yourself 
in  any  way  you  can." 

"I  shall  not  leave  you,  sir." 

"My  poor  boy,"  said  the  captain,  with  a  look 
such  as  one  gives  in  speaking  a  last  farewell, 
"you  cannot  help  me.  It's  every  one  for  himself 
now.     You  haven't  a  moment  to  lose." 

Suddenly  Joe  observed  that,  in  his  efforts  to 
steady  himself,  the  captain  seemed  to  have  no  use 
of  either  arm.  "Are  you  hurt,  sir?"  he  asked 
anxiously. 

"Yes  ;  my  arms  are  broken." 

This  was  terrible.  It  was  indeed  true  ;  both  the 
captain's  arms  had  been  broken ;  how,  there  was 
not  time  to  relate.  And  not  a  sign  of  pain  had 
the  brave  captain  given,  only  of  sorrow  for  the 
hapless  ship's  company. 

Not  an  instant  was  now  to  be  lost.  Joe  flung 
off  his  sou'wester,  and  with  it,  unconsciously,  his 


420  IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND. 

blouse.  A  glance  told  him  that  the  gig,  like  most 
of  the  other  boats,  had  been  too  badly  damaged  to 
be  of  use.  He  remembered  that  just  under  the 
break  of  the  poop  several  life-preservers  were 
stowed.  He  sprang  to  the  deck,  and  snatching 
two  of  them  from  their  places,  was  almost  instantly 
back  at  the  captain's  side.  His  heart  was  well- 
nigh  bursting  as  he  realized  the  captain's  utter 
helplessness.  As  soon  as  possible  he  placed  one 
of  the  life-preservers  upon  him,  strapping  it  se- 
curely. Throwing  the  other  over  himself,  he 
assisted  the  captain  to  the  starboard  rail.  Climb- 
ing nimbly  over  it,  he  braced  himself  to  draw  his 
helpless  burden  after  him.  One  long  look  of  affec- 
tion Captain  Farradale  gave  his  undone  little  ship, 
and  yielding  to  Joe's  importunity,  leaped  with  him 
into  the  sea. 

Not  a  second  too  soon,  for  our  hero,  at  least, 
had  the  leap  been  taken.  But,  ah,  what  followed ! 
Even  as  they  struck  the  water  the  ship  went 
down ;  went  down  amid  awful  swirls  and  eddies 
with  a  mighty  rushing  sound.  And  as  suddenly 
did  Joe  feel  Captain  Farradale  swept  away  from 
his  grasp,  caught  by  a  tangled  mass  of  rigging 
and  carried  under  with  his  ship.  They  had  found 
a  common  grave. 

In  his  grief,  Joe  loudly  called  his  captain's 
name.  It  could  not  be  that  he  was  gone  !  He 
swam  excitedly  about  the  spot  where  he  had  dis- 


IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND.  42  I 

appeared.  Surely  he  must  instantly  reappear. 
Joe  continued  calling  to  him.  Perhaps  he  had 
risen  to  the  surface,  and  was  hidden  behind  some 
floating  portion  of  the  wreck.  For  several  minutes 
the  well-nigh  frantic  cadet  searched  vainly  among 
the  drift,  then  gave  up  every  hope. 

All  at  once  he  caught  a  feeble  voice  speaking 
his  own  name.  Could  it  be  Captain  Farradale's 
call  ? 

No! 

Quickly  turning,  he  beheld  in  the  bright  moon- 
light, Dawson's  upturned  face.  There  was  a  look 
upon  it  which  startled  him.  A  few  strokes  brought 
him  to  the  old  man's  side.  Dawson  lay  on  his 
back,  struggling  to  keep  afloat.  Joe  saw  that  he 
needed  support,  and  instantly  buoyed  him  in  his 
arms. 

"What,  Dawson,  are  you  hurt,  too?"  he  ex- 
claimed, with  a  fresh  pang  of  grief. 

"Yes;  but  I's  not  afeared.  There's  One  above 
as  won't  be  hard  on  me,  sir." 

"Oh!  I'll  get  you  ashore,  Dawson,"  said  Joe, 
thinking  the  old  man  was  in  despair  over  his  dis- 
abled condition. 

"I's  driftin'  to  another  shore,  sir,"  solemnly 
said  Dawson. 

"  No,  no  ;  it  can't  be,  Dawson,"  said  Joe,  his 
voice  broken  with  sobbing. 

"  I's  done  fur  this  time.      I's  felt  all  along  as 


422  IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS    HAND. 

somethin'  was  a-comin',  an'  now  it's  come.  It 
don't  matter,  sir.  In  the  course  o'  natur  I  hadn't 
long  to  stay.  God  bless  you,  sir,"  and  Dawson 
looked  tenderly  at  Joe. 

"O,  Dawson,  Dawson!"  was  all  that  Joe  could 
say. 

"  If  you  gits  out  o'  this,  sir,  take  a  dyin'  old 
sailor's  blessin'  to  Miss  Aston.  Tell  her  I  didn't 
forgit  her  pooty  ways,  an'  the  kind  words  she 
allers  said  to  me.      God  bless  her!" 

"To  think  that  such  a  cruel  fate  should  have 
befallen  you,  Dawson,"  said  Joe,  in  uncontrollable 
sorrow. 

"It's  all  right,  sir;  I's  not  afeared.  Would  you 
mind  sayin'  a  little  prayer,  sir?" 

With  Dawson's  head  resting  against  his  shoulder 
the  broken-hearted  cadet  fulfilled  as  best  he  could 
the  old  sailor's  last  request.  A  moment  later,  and 
as  brave  and  true  a  heart  as  ever  beat  in  human 
breast  was  stilled  forever. 

Was  ever  such  tragedy  as  this  enacted  upon  the 
sea !  Joe  fell  back  exhausted  and  in  despair.  He 
moved  neither  hand  nor  foot.  He  allowed  the 
great  waves  to  knock  him  about  as  they  would. 
What  mattered  it  now  what  he  did  ?  He  cared 
little  for  his  life.  All  hope  seemed  to  have  died 
in  his  heart.  If  he  tried  to  reach  the  shore,  would 
it  not  be  only  struggling  against  Fate  ?  How 
much  better  to  sink  quietly  down  where  Dawson, 


IN    THE    HOLLOW    OF    HIS     HAND.  423 

and  Captain  Farradale,  and  doubtless  Harry, 
Schopy,  Arlington  and  many  others  had  gone,  to 
await  the  last  great  muster,  at  their  side  ! 

But  there  came  a  light  into  this  darkness  —  a 
hope  into  this  despair.  A  bright,  sweet  vision  was 
flashed  before  his  mind.  It  was  the  image  of  the 
one  who  so  long  had  been  mirrored  in  his  heart. 
Never  had  that  dear  face  seemed  so  kindly  as  now ; 
never  had  those  sweet  eyes  seemed  to  fall  upon 
him  so  tenderly.  Yes,  he  would  now  make  the 
bravest  struggle  for  his  life. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 


SUITABLE      REWARD 


MONTHS  passed,  bringing  no  tidings  to  the 
friends  in  Portland  from  Joe.  Meanwhile 
the  papers  had  been  closely  watched,  that  no  stray 
item  touching  the  Daybreak  might  escape  their 
notice.  Katie  was  as  familiar  with  shipping  news 
as  a  city  editor  is  with  local  incidents ;  and,  in  the 
continued  disappointment  of  her  search,  thought 
what  a  foolish  fellow  Joe  must  be  to  prefer  a  life 
which  involves  such  grave-like  silence.  And  she 
determined,  should  chance  ever  throw  him  in  her 
way  again  —  and  she  began  to  fear  that  such  an 
event  would  depend  entirely  upon  chance  —  that 
she  would  forthwith  recommend  a  change  of  pro- 
fessions. But  the  weeks  dragged  on  and  no  word 
came  from  the  cadet,  nor  from  his  good  ship.  For 
the  first  time  in  her  life  Katie  experienced  seasons 
of  depression.  Sometimes  she  even  felt  as  Joe 
once  had  ;  that  it  was  exceedingly  probable  that 
there  would  never  be  any  direct  communication 
between  them  again.  So  strange  are  these  hearts 
of  ours ! 

424 


A    SUITABLE    REWARD.  425 

One  morning,  after  this  long  interval  of  waiting, 
as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aston  were  breakfasting,  Katie 
entered  the  room  rather  later  than  usual.  Greet- 
ing her  parents  cheerily,  and  before  taking  her 
seat  at  the  table,  she  picked  up  the  hitherto  neg- 
lected morning  paper,  to  merely  glance  over  the 
news. 

All  at  once  her  father  noticed  that  she  had 
become  very  pale,  and  was  trembling  violently 
from  head  to  foot. 

"Why,  Katie  dear,  what  can  be  the  matter?" 
he  exclaimed  in  great  alarm,  hastening  to  her  side. 

"  O,  papa  !  just  read  that,"  was  all  she  could  say. 

Much  agitated,  Mr.  Aston  took  the  paper  from 
her  trembling  hand,  and  quickly  read  as  follows  : 

TERRIBLE  OCEAN  TRAGEDY. 


PROBABLE  LOSS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  STEAMER 
DAYBREAK. 


San  Francisco,  Sept.  — .  Captain  Hemstead,  of  the  bark 
Helena,  reports  that  while  passing  the  Aleutian  Islands,  on  the 
15th  itltimo,  he  encountered  a  large  quantity  of  wreckage.  It 
bore  evidence  of  having  belonged  to  a  man-of-war,  and  was  very 
much  broken  up.  Topmasts,  yards  and  other  wood-work  were 
a  mass  of  splinters.  Several  pieces  of  rigging  were  torn  and 
twisted  into  every  conceivable  shape.  The  sea  was  littered  with 
fragments  of  oars,  boats,  sails,  etc.  The  ship  must  have  thrown 
herself  with  terrific  force  upon  some  obstruction,  probably  a 
sunken,  unmarked  reef,  making  instant  ruin  of  everything  above 
the  tops,  and  going  down  in  a  trice. 


426  A    SUITABLE    REWARD. 

That  the  ill-fated  ship  was  a  war  vessel  was  placed  beyond 
doubt  by  the  finding  of  an  officer's  blouse  among  the  debris. 
It  was  fished  up  inside  a  sou'wester  with  which  it  had  been 
hastily  thrown  off.  The  blouse  had  gold  foul-anchors  on  the 
collar,  and  a  narrow  strip  of  braid  upon  the  sleeve.  Smith  & 
Co.,  Tailors,  Boston,  was  stitched  on  the  inside  of  the  collar.  The 
garment  is  a  part  of  the  service-dress  worn  by  naval  cadets.  A 
touching  incident  is  connected  with  this  blouse.  In  the  pocket 
was  found  a  blank  envelope,  containing  a  number  of  letters  from 
the  young  officer's  sister,  or,  more  likely,  his  sweetheart.  They 
are  addressed,  "  Dear  Joe,"  and  signed  "  Katie."  There  is  nothing 
else  in  them  by  which  to  identify  either  party.  As  the  United 
States  Steamer  Daybreak  was  the  only  man-of-war  known  to  be 
cruising  among  the  Aleutian  Islands,  there  is  every  reason  for 
believing  that  she  has  gone  down  with  all  on  board. 

In  silence  Mr.  Aston  passed  the  paper  to  his 
wife,  who  had  already  guessed  the  import  of  the 
appalling  news.  Several  minutes  he  sat  without 
speaking  a  word.  Katie  had  thrown  herself  upon 
the  lounge  in  utter  abandonment  to  her  grief. 

Could  it  be,  he  thought,  that  the  cadet  who,  the 
last  year,  had  so  grown  into  the  hearts  of  his  friends, 
had  perished  in  this  dreadful  manner?  Sad,  sad 
termination  to  their  hopes  for  him  —  to  the  little 
that  it  had  come  in  their  way  to  do  for  him  ! 

And  then,  poor  Katie  !  For  some  time  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Aston  had  known  of  her  love  for  Joe.  They 
had  placed  nothing  in  its  way.  The  fitness  of  its 
object  they  had  well  learned.  It  seemed  to  them, 
as  Joe's  fine  character  became  more  and  more 
manifest,  even  desirable.  In  short,  they  regarded 
it  as  something  that  was  to  be. 


A     SUITABLE     REWARD.  427 

And  Katie's  sorrow  was  now  a  very  sacred 
thing  to  her  parents.  Their  hearts  melted  with 
pity  for  her.  Presently  Mr.  Aston  went  to  her 
side,  and  gently  stroking  the  fair  head,  spoke 
words  of  comfort  to  her. 

"Katie  dear,"  said  he,  "I  own  this  looks  very 
bad.  But  there's  a  little  light  in  it  all,  and  we 
won't  give  up  hoping  yet.  I  regard  the  finding  of 
the  blouse  a  good  omen.  Joe  must  have  thrown 
it  off  to  make  his  escape.  A  good  Providence 
seems  always  to  have  been  over  Joe's  life,  and  if 
that  and  a  brave  heart  were  of  any  avail,  he  will 
turn  up  all  right.  I  feel  that  the  One  who  notes 
the  sparrow's  fall  has  not  forgotten  Joe." 

And  Katie  took  heart  at  this. 

Two  weeks  later  came  full  particulars  of  the 
Daybreak's  loss,  with  the  names  of  the  survivors. 
Lieutenant  Bloomsbury  headed  the  list.  Then 
came  the  names  of  Joe,  Harry  and  Coverly  among 
the  officers  ;  and  Long,  Conners  and  some  twenty 
others  among  the  crew.  It  had  been  a  frightful 
disaster  ;  but  do  not  the  annals  of  the  Navy  record 
many  such  ?  A  vast  spectral  fleet,  the  lost  ships 
come  sailing  back  to  us  upon  the  tides  of  memory. 
Through  the  long  years  they  have  been  strewn 
over  the  floor  of  the  mighty  deep.  Time  has 
well-nigh  obliterated  the  names  of  the  heroes  who 
perished  with  them,  and  their  requiems  have  been 
lost  from  the  sound  of  the  sea ;  but,  nevertheless, 


428  A     SUITABLE     REWARD. 

a  great  multitude  are  they  who  thus  sleep  beneath 
the  waves,  waiting  that  morning  of  prophecy  on 
which  the  sea  shall  give  up  its  dead. 

We  left  our  hero  determined  upon  making  a 
great  struggle  for  the  life  which,  until  Katie  was 
imaged  with  such  brightness  before  his  mind, 
seemed  of  so  little  worth.  But  never  did  prospect 
appear  more  unpromising.  With  the  appalling 
darkness  that  had  enveloped  his  spirit,  a  corre- 
sponding darkness  had  fallen  upon  the  sea.  As  if 
in  melancholy  consonance  with  the  sad  events 
already  related,  and  immediately  succeeding  them, 
a  mass  of  heavy  black  clouds  swept  across  the 
face  of  the  moon,  leaving  the  ocean  in  well-nigh 
total  eclipse. 

Joe  thought  over  his  chances  for  escape.  Two 
alternatives  presented  themselves.  The  first  was 
to  cling  to  portions  of  the  wreck,  and  wait  to  be 
picked  up  by  some  passing  vessel.  The  second  to 
swim  to  the  island,  and  trust  to  good  luck  for 
making  a  successful  landing. 

As  no  vessel  would  probably  pass  that  way  for 
many  days,  the  first  of  these  alternatives  seemed 
quite  out  of  the  question.  And  at  thought  of  the 
other,  Joe's  heart  almost  sank  within  him.  Before, 
the  ship  had  struck,  he  had  observed  certain 
peculiarities  in  the  coast-line  of  the  island.  It  had 
presented  an  apparently  solid  wall.  Not  a  sign  of 
any  opening  had  he  been  able  to  discover  as  far  as 


A    SUITABLE    REWARD.  429 

his  eye  could  reach.  What  if  there  should  be  no 
friendly  gateway  leading  to  the  inner  shore  ?  How, 
then,  could  he  scale  those  ste  p  and  frowning 
heights  ?  If  natural  stairway  there  should  be, 
would  not  the  waves  grind  him  to  powder  upon  its 
lowermost  steps  ?  But  the  only  hope  of  escape 
seemed  to  him  to  lie  in  the  keeping  of  this  wild 
shore  ;  and  nerving  himself  for  the  struggle,  he 
began  swimming  in  its  direction. 

All  this  time  something  had  been  going  on  to 
which  he  had  given  no  heed.  He  had  been  so 
stricken  down  with  grief  that  he  had  lost  sight  of 
everything  but  the  distressing  circumstances  with 
which  he  had  been  immediately  connected.  But 
for  this  he  might  have  observed,  though  he  had 
drifted  quite  a  distance  to  leeward,  that  a  number 
of  the  ship's  company  were  struggling  in  the 
water,  Harry  and  Coverly  among  them.  And  had 
he  also  listened  carefully,  he  might  have  heard  an 
officer's  voice,  calling  upon  all  of  them  to  follow 
him.  That  officer  was  Lieutenant  Blooinsbury. 
He  had  escaped  going  down  in  the  ship  as  by 
miracle.  And  once  in  the  water  he  knew  just 
what  to  do  for  the  better  safety  of  the  survivors. 
He  began  looking  around  after  the  boats.  Pres- 
ently, way  off  to  leeward,  he  caught  a  glimpse  of 
one  of  the  cutters  —  one  of  those  already  described 
as  having  been  cut  away.  She  was  right  side  up, 
but  not  a   soul  was  in   her,   and   she  was  rapidly 


430  A    SUITABLE    REWARD. 

drifting  out  of  reach.  The  call  he  gave  was  to 
swim  for  her,  and  with  Harry,  Coverly  and  a  half- 
score  of  able  young  fellows,  he  started  in  a  race 
for  life. 

Slowly  Joe  swam  on.  He  must  economize  his 
strength  for  the  dangers  of  the  coast.  How  sweet, 
under  the  magic  wand  that  had  touched  his  heart, 
life  now  seemed  —  how  glorious  the  world  !  But, 
ah,  that  cruel  shore  !  Dismay  filled  his  soul  as  he 
thought  of  it.  He  had  a  mind  to  fall  back  upon 
the  forlorn  hope  of  being  discovered  from  the 
deck  of  some  vessel  that  might  stray  into  these 
far  waters.      No,  he  would  proceed  ! 

But  what  was  this  ?  He  had  accomplished  but  a 
little  distance  when  all  within  him  was  hope  again. 
Suddenly  a  burst  of  silvery  light  illumined  the  sea, 
and  with  its  coming  the  sound  of  voices  and  the 
click  of  oars  broke  upon  Joe's  ear. 

The  boat,  then,  had  been  reached  and  manned 
by  the  swimmers. 

Why  had  not  Joe  thought  of  such  a  possibility 
as  this  ?  But  people  in  shipwreck  think  of  so  few 
things  !  The  wonder  is,  that  they  are  capable  of 
thinking  intelligently.  However,  these  glad  sounds 
had  surely  come  to  Joe.  In  his  joy  he  almost 
sprang  up  in  the  water.  He  felt  as  light  as  a  sea- 
bird  rising  and  falling  with  the  waves.  He  uttered 
a  loud  cry.  It  brought  the  boat  down  upon  him. 
Almost  before   he  realized  that  she  had  reached 


A     SUITABLE     REWARD.  43  I 

him,  he  heard  the  joyful  exclamation  from  Lieu- 
tenant Bloomsbury,  "  Why !  God  bless  us,  it's 
Bently,"  and  he  felt  strong  hands  laid  upon  him. 
A  moment  later  he  was  with  his  shipmates  in  the 
cutter. 

Several  chapters  would  be  required  to  entei 
into  all  the  details  of  this  terrible  shipwreck.  But 
a  word  or  two  in  further  explanation  seems  im- 
portant. Of  the  officers  in  the  boat  with  Joe,  Lieu- 
tenant Bloomsbury,  who  was  officer  of  the  deck, 
had,  like  many  others,  become  entangled  in  the 
fallen  material  and  was  held  fast  until  a  moment 
before  the  ship  went  down. 

He  had  no  sooner  plunged  into  the  sea,  and 
taken  a  few  strokes  from  her  side,  than  she  was 
gone.  Coverly  had  barely  reached  the  deck  to 
pay  his  midnight  visit  to  the  sentries,  when  the 
shock  came.  Fortunately,  he  was  not  injured  by 
any  thing  that  fell  from  aloft.  He  worked  for 
the  relief  of  several  men  who  had  been  pinned 
down  among  the  debris  till  he  was  compelled  to 
leave  the  poor  fellows  and  jump  for  his  life.  Harry 
had  not  received  a  bruise.  He  sprang  for  the  boat 
in  which  he  belonged,  in  abandoning  ship,  and 
together  with  Conners  and  Long,  managed  to  cut 
her  away.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  it  appeared  cer- 
tain death  to  them  to  attempt  to  board  her  from 
the  ship.  They  had  barely  time  to  secure  life, 
preservers  on  another  part   of  the  deck  when  the 


432  A    SUITABLE    REWARD. 

final  catastrophe  came.  No  one  who  had  turned 
in  below,  escaped.  All  access  to  the  deck  had 
been  closed  by  the  top-hamper,  which  had  com- 
pletely battened  down  the  hatchways. 

A  dozen  more  of  the  crew  were  picked  up  by 
the  boat.  When  it  became  certain  that  all  the 
others  were  beyond  the  reach  of  help,  they  pulled 
for  the  land.  The  wind,  meanwhile,  had  abated, 
and  the  sea  had  fallen  considerably.  The  great 
barricade,  more  kindly  than  Joe  thought,  when, 
after  a  long  pull,  they  got  to  it,  opened  to  give 
them  harbor. 

Close  on  to  the  shore  they  found  a  deserted 
village.  Many  years  before  every  inhabitant, 
from  some  cause  or  other,  had  abandoned  the  sev- 
eral towns  of  this  island.  In  this  village  they 
took  shelter,  subsisting  for  two  days  upon  wild 
fruits  and  a  few  stores  that  chanced  to  be  in  the 
boat.  The  third  day  they  were  taken  off  by  a 
sailing  vessel,  which  they  had  signaled,  and  con- 
veyed to  the  town  already  mentioned.  The  offi- 
cers were  received  into  the  house  of  the  Greek 
priest,  and  the  men  cared  for  in  the  village.  As 
if  Joe  had  not  endured  enough,  he  was  stricken 
down  with  pneumonia.  One  cold  had  succeeded 
another  till  this  disease  was  fastened  upon  him. 
But  his  hardy  constitution  triumphed,  and  he  re- 
covered from  his  illness  but  little  the  worse  for  hav- 
ing   experienced    it.       As    soon    as    possible,    for 


A     SUITABLE     REWARD.  433 

communication  with  these  islands  was  infrequent, 
Lieutenant  Bloomsbury  sent  an  account  of  the 
Daybreak's  loss  to  the  Navy  Department.  Upon 
receipt  of  the  sad  intelligence,  a  steamer  was  dis- 
patched from  San  Francisco  to  bring  back  the 
survivors. 

Late  in  October  Joe  arrived  in  Portland.  The 
Aston  carriage  awaited  him  at  the  depot,  bring- 
ing also  his  true  friend.  What  a  joyful  meeting  it 
was  at  Mr.  Aston's  home  !  How  Joe  colored  as 
Mrs.  Aston  welcomed  him  with  a  hearty  kiss. 
Katie  did  not  follow  suit,  but  she  looked  and 
spoke  her  gladness.  The  pleasure  with  which  she 
received  her  hero  was  unmistakable.  He  had 
come  back  to  her,  as  it  were,  from  the  dead.  And 
their  hearts  well  knew  the  secret  which  it  had 
failed  both  tongue  and  pen  to  tell. 

Katie  led  Joe  into  the  drawing-room.  She 
thought  he  glanced  about  a  little  uneasily,  as 
though  expecting  an  unwelcome  presence.  "  Oh  ! 
Auntie  isn't  here  now,  Joe,"  she  whispered,  with  a 
mischievous  smile. 

One  evening  not  long  after  his  arrival,  Joe  and 
Katie  walked  out  into  the  moonlight  under  the 
big  trees.  Somehow  the  moon  always  managed 
to  shine  when  Joe  wanted  it  to.  As  we  already 
know,  he  had  a  weakness  for  this  luminary,  and  on 
this  particular  night,  it  seemed  to  him  to  be  worth 
its  weight  in  gold.      He  had  somewhat  to  say  to 


434  A     SUITABLE     REWARD. 

Katie,  and  he  did  not  want  the  sunlight  staring  him 
out  of  countenance  when  he  said  it.  The  live- 
long day  the  words  had  burned  in  his  heart,  fear- 
ing utterance.  But  he  thought  when  the  evening 
came,  that  he  might  tell  her  all  out  in  the  shadows 
of  the  great  trees,  with  the  moonlight  shimmering 
about  them  through  the  still,  thick  canopy  of 
leaves.  A  long  time  they  walked  about  talking 
of  many  things,  Joe's  heart  failing  him  the  while. 
But  at  last,  with  a  courage  greater  than  that  of 
him  who  taketh  a  city,  he  drew  her  to  a  rustic 
seat,  and  with  the  little  hand  lying  all  unresisting 
in  his  own,  he  asked  her  to  be  his  wife. 

"  Did  papa  say  you  might  ask  me,  Joe  ?  "  was  the 
slow  rejoinder,  looking  up  into  his  eyes. 

"  O,  yes  !  "  said  Joe,  sealing  the  promise  which 
shone  in  her  sweet  face  with  a  happy  kiss. 

And  thus  we  say  good-by  to  Joe  and  Katie. 
Their  hearts  are  one  ;  life  stretches  away  before 
them  as  a  glorious  sea  upon  which  they  are  to  one 
day  voyage  together.  May  few  storms  cross  their 
path  ;  and  may  they  grow  richer  and  richer  in 
the  tender  love  they  bear  each  other,  until  they 
come  to  the  quiet  haven  where  we  shall  all  drop 
anchor  at  last. 


D.    LOTHROP  COMPANY'S 


YONGE  (Charlotte  M.)- 

LANCES  OF  LYNWOOD.      i2mo,  illustrated,  i.co.     (4) 

Recommended  by  the  State  Boards  of  several  States  for  their  public  school  libraries. 

"  '  The  Lances  of  Lynwcod '  is  con-  "  It  is  full  of  the  ring  and  romance  of 

structed  of  fourteenth-century  materials        the   feudal   ages,   describing   the    bright 
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for  our  boys  and  girls.     It  opens  up  his-  "  There  is  a  true  adherence  to  nature 

tory,  quickens  the  imagination  and  fixes  and  great  dramatic  skill  displayed  in  the 
the  love  of  reading."  —  Syracuse  Stan-  exhibition  of  character"  —  North  Brit- 
dard.  ish  Review. 

GOLDEN  DEEDS.  i2mo,  illustrated,  cloth,  i.oo;  gilt  top, 
I-25-     (4) 

Heroic  and  noble  actions  mostly  culled  out  of  history,  making  fifty  different  tales  of 
lofty  duty,  for  young  and  old. 

THE  PRINCE  AND  THE  PAGE.      i2tno,  illustrated,  i.oo 

(4) 

A  story  of  the  Last  Crusade. 

THE  LITTLE  DUKE  :  Richard  the  Fearless.  i2mo,  illus- 
trated, i.oo.     (4) 

LITTLE  LUCY'S  WONDERFUL  GLOBE.  23  full-page 
illustrations,  i2mo,  cloth,  .75. 

HISTORICAL  SERIES. 

Recommended  by  the  State  Hoards  of  several  States  for  their  public  school  libraries. 

Miss  Yonge,  while  always  boldly  and  continuously  outlining  the  course  of  historical 
events,  has  the  knack  of  seizing  upon  incidents  which  reveal  the  true  character  of  his- 
torical personages,  so  that  these  volumes  are  eminently  calculated  to  teach  as  well  as 
to  interest.  The  language  is  simple  yet  expressive,  the  freedom  of  treatment  bold  yet 
accurate.  The  characters  appear  and  disappear  with  all  the  serious  brevity  of  moving 
time,  and  seem  to  speak  for  themselves. 

YOUNG    FOLKS'    BIBLE  HISTORY.      i2mo,  illustrated, 

1.50. 

"  The  author  presents  in  her  dramatic  "  One  of  the  best  books  for  its  purpose 

style  many  of  the  striking  incidents  and  which     we     have     found."  —  Christian 

stories  of  the  sacred  book.     It  is  not  only  Register. 

entertaining,  but   as   fascinating  as  any  We  shall  be  much  mistaken  if  this 

romance,  yet  nothing  of  the  spirit  of  the  book  does  not  prove  to  be  useful  in  many 

Bible  is  disturbed,  and  the  lesson  is  only  homes,  in   fixing  the   facts  of   Scripture 

more  vividly  brought  out  by  the  genius  history  in  the  young  minds  and  in  giving 

of   the  artist." —  Western  Educational  them  a  good  perspective  of  that  history 

Jour7ial,  Chicago.  as  a  whole."  — Independent,  New  York. 

YOUNG  FOLKS'  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  i2mo, 
illustrated,  1.50. 

Beginning  with  a  period  prior  to  the  Christian  era,  it  outlines  English  history 
through  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Roman,  Danish  and  Norman  invasions,  through  the 
subsequent  civil  strifes,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  peaceful  reign  of  the  good  Victoria. 
Only  those  facts  are  presented  which  are  at  once  most  picturesque,  most  interesting 
and  most  easily  comprehended.  In  the  hands  of  the  young  it  is  an  irresistible  tempta- 
tion to  history. 

YOUNG  FOLKS'  HISTORY  OF  FRANCE.  12 mo,  illus- 
trated, 1.50. 

To  arrange  the  confused  facts  of  French  history  in  such  an  order  as  to  make  them 
comprehensible  to  children  is  a  difficult  task.  Miss  Yonge  has  undertaken  to  do  this 
and  has  succeeded  admirably.  She  has  done  more  than  tell  an  interesting  story,  for 
she  has  attached  some  real  characteristic  to  each  reign,  and  has  translated  the  leading 
political  motives  into  something  that  can  enter  an  intellect  of  seven  or  ebht  years  old. 


D.    LOTHROP  COMPANY'S 


TALBOT  (Rev.  Charles  R.), 


ROYAL  LOWRIE.     i:mo: 

"  This  capitally  written  story  of  school 
and  vacation  life  has  become  a  standard 
in  boys'  libraries.  It  is  full  of  fun  and 
yet  not  coarse  fun.  It  tells  the  story  of 
the  troubles  got  into  and  blunders  made 
by    half    a    dozen    people,    young    and 


1.25. 

old,  the  principal  characters  being;  two 
schoolfellows,  Royal  Lowrie  and  Archie 
Bishop.  It  is  an  essentially  live  book, 
and  the  boy  who  fails  to  read  it  loses  just 
so  much  genuine  enjoyment."  —  B.  B, 
Bulletin. 


ROYAL  LOWRIES    LAST  YEAR  AT  ST.   OLAVES. 

i2mo,  illustrated,  1.25. 

"  One  of  the  best  books  about  young 
people,  and  for  them,  which  we  have  read 
in  a  long  time.  The  lads  described  are 
genuine  boys,  doing  some  very  objection- 
able things,  up  to  all  manner  of  pranks, 
and  bringing  themselves  to  dire  grief, 
yet  holding  the  regard  of  the  reader 
through  everything,  and  coming  out  all 


right.  The  girls,  too,  are  real  girls,  such 
as  one  meets.  The  book  is  thoroughly 
healthy  and  high-toned  It  makes  very- 
plain  the  meanness  of  deceit.  It  also 
shows  the  noble  influence  of  a  true- 
hearted,  high-minded  girl." —  The  Cou- 
gregationalist. 


PARLOR    COMEDIES.      Illustrated   by   F.    Miller  and   H. 

Pruett  Share.     Square  8vo,  boards,  1.00. 

"  Sparkling  and  full  of  movement,  and  dialogue  and  the  frequent  dramatic  situa- 

can   be  arranged   easily   for   parlor  and  tions.     Aside  from  its  admirable  adapta- 

school  presentation.    They  do  not  depend  tion   for  use  in    parlor   theatricals,   the 

upon  complicated  stage  arrangements  or  book  will  be  full  of  interest  to  the  general 

scenery  for  interest,  but  upon  the  breezy  reader."  —  Loiuell  Courier. 

HONOR  BRIGHT.  i2mo,  cloth,  illustrated,  1.25. 
The  hero,  in  his  fifteenth  year,  got  into  a  towering  rage  with  his  guardian  and  liter- 
ally "  ran  away  to  sea."  He  was  six  months  on  board  ship,  two  years  in  Colorado 
and  New  Mexico,  and  got  a  good  many  hard  knocks.  During  his  absence  the  people 
and  things  he  had  run  away  from  had  not  stood  still,  so  that  he  found  his  relations  to 
them  entirely  changed  on  his  return.  What  he  did  in  this  new  state  of  affairs  forms 
the  bulk  of  the  story,  which  is  not  meant  to  be  sensational  and  is  not  so.  Young 
people  will  find  in  it  much  that  will  help  and  nothing  that  will  hurt  them.  It  is  aston- 
ishing what  a  variety  there  is  in  boys  with  the  seeds  of  manliness  in  them,  and  how 
many  ways  there  are  to  success  in  this  world. 

A  DOUBLE  MASQUERADE.     A  Romance  of  the  Revolu- 
tion.    121110,  1.25. 

"Its  dozen  chapters  cover  the  time 
from  June,  1775,  to  March  of  the  follow- 
ing year,  when  the  British  evacuated 
Boston,  and  the  confusion  caused  by  the 
confounding  of  a  pair  of  cousins  bearing 
the  same  names,  and  of  whom  one  is  in 
the  American  and  one  in  the  English 
armv,  is  skillfully  managed."  —  Boston 
Advertiser. 

"The  young  reader  will  get  a  clearer 
idea  from  its  pages  of  the  struggle  be- 


tween the  colonies  and  Great  Britain, 
and  of  the  men  on  both  sides  who  were 
leaders  in  the  Revolutionary  movement, 
than  from  mere  statistical  and  document- 
ary history.  One  of  the  features  of  the 
volume  is  a  description  of  the  Battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  which  a  critic  has  pro- 
nounced to  be  '  one  of  the  most  graphic 
and  telling  accounts  ever  written  of  that 
famous  conflict.'"  —  South  Boston  In- 
quirer. 


EXPLOITS  OF    MILTIADES    PETERKIN    PAUL;  as 

Traveller,  Adventurer,    Knight,  Astronomer,  Politician.     8vo,  illus- 
trated, boards,  1.00. 
A  bundle  of  ridiculous  yarns  already  classic 


SELECT    LIST   OF    BOOKS. 


BREMEN  LECTURES  (The).    On  Fundamental 

Living  Religious  Questions. 

Translated  from  the  German  by  Rev.  D.   Heagle.     Introduction 

by  Alvah  Hovey,  D.  D.     i:mo,  i.oo.    (2) 

A  defence  of  the  old  beliefs  by  the  great  thinkers  of  Germany,  originally  delivered 
as  lectures  in  the  city  of  Bremen.  They  are  calm,  scholarly,  profound,  yet  clear  argu- 
ments, upon  subjects  of  vital  interest  to  all  thinking  people,  especially  timely  in  this 
sceptical  age.  The  lectures  are  as  follows:  The  biblical  Conception  of  God;  The 
Doctrine  of  Creation  and  Natural  Science;  Reason,  Conscience  and  Revelation; 
Miracles;  The  Person  of  Jesus  Christ;  The  Resurrection;  The  Scriptural  Doctrine 
of  Atonement :  The  Authenticity  of  our  Gospel ;  The  Idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God ; 
Christianity  and  Culture. 

BROOKS  (Elbridge  S.). 

IN  LEISLER'S  TIMES.      i2mo,  illustrated,  1.50. 

"  The  story  is  one  of  Knickerbocker  teresting  and  the  history  makes  the  story 

New  York,  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  interesting.     Mr.  Brooks  does  this  dehb- 

is  designed  to  do  justice  to  the   memory  eratelv,  because  it  is  his  aim  to  do  this 

of    the   attainted  and  ill-fated  Governor  very  thing;   and  we  know  of  no  writer  of 

Leisler.       It    is    a    good    boys'    book;  stories  for  young  people  (or  for  old  peo- 

raanly,  patriotic  and  readable."  —  New  pie   either,  for  that  matter)  who  under- 

J  'ork  lndepcndc7it-  stand  better  how  to  mix  these  two  ele- 

"  Mr.   Brooks  has  the  rare  faculty  of  ments  so   that    they  shall    not    seek  to 

combining  history  and  fiction  so  that  each  instruct  too   much   or  to    entertain    too 

shall  happily  play  into  the  hands  of  the  little."  —  Brooklyn  Times. 
other.     The  story  makes  the  history  in- 

IN  NO-MAN'S  LAND.  With  seventy-two  pen-and-ink  char- 
acter drawings  by  Hassam.      i2mo,  1.25. 

Ruthie,  the  little  heroine,  is  a  similar  creation  to  little  Alice,  the  heroine  of  "  Alice 
in  Wonderland."  Ruthie  begins  her  journey  in  a  horse  car,  apparently  falls  asieep, 
and  then  her  adventures  begin.  A  squirrel  and  a  billy-goat  accompany  her  with  many 
jests  and  odd  puns  to  the  jiimping-off  place,  a  little  leap  from  which  brings  her  into 
"  No-Man's  Land."  The  incidents  and  characters  here  are  all  on  the  marvellous,  and 
related  with  a  keen  sense  of  fun. 

"  Mr.  E.  S.  Brooks'  '  In  No-Man's  But  there  is  not  a  dull  line  in  the  book. 
Land  '  sparkles  all  over  with  glee.  The  The  author  has  not  labored  over  his  con- 
pages  bristle  with  jests  and  quips  and  ceits;  they  were  spontaneous,  and  there- 
puns.      The   parodies  on    '  Casabianca,'  fore  natural  and  buoyant  and  fresh."  — 

Douglas,   Douglas  Tender  and  True '  The  Dial,  Chicago, 
and  other  popular  songs  are  very  clever. 

STORIED  HOLIDAYS.  *i2mo,  1.50. 

"It  was  a  happy  thought  to  take  the  read."  —  Swtday-sckoo!  Tfmes,  Phila. 

holidays  of  the  year,  from  Christmas  to  "There  is  no  writer  in  America  who 

Thanksgiving,  connect   each  with  some  succeeds  as  well  as  Mr   E.  S.  Biooks  in 

picturesque  event  in  history,  and  then  tell  interesting  children  in  history.      He  is  a 

the   story  in  terse  and  forcible  English  capital   story-teller  and   has  a   dramatic 

The  result  is  a  contribution  to  the  litem-  instinct  that  enables  him  to  select  such 

tine  of  romance — a  book  for  buying  and  subjects  as   fairly  thrill   the   young  and 

keeping,  that  the  children  as  they  grow  ardent  imagination." — Albany Argiis. 
up  and  the  parents,  too,  may  dip  into  and 

*  Recommended  by  the  State  Board  of  Wisconsin  for  the  public  school  libraries. 


D.    LOTHROP  COMPANY'S 


CATHERWOOD  (Mary  Hartwell). 


THE    DOGBERRY    BUN 

"  Boys  and  girls  will  be  delighted  with 
this  very  merry  story  of  seven  plucky 
children  who  would  hang  together.  These 
seven  brothers  and  sisters  have  the  family 
name  of  Dogberry.  They  live  in  an 
Illinois  village  and  their  mother  and 
father  are  dead.  They  form  an  unique 
association  to  save  money  and  keep  them- 
selves from  being  separated.  Jack,  one 
of  the  brothers,  gets  carried  off  on  a 
freight  train  and  sees  something  of  a 
strike  of  railroad  employes.  Arty,  the 
youngest,   .strolls   away   from   home   and 


CH.  i2mo,  illustrated,  1.25.  (5) 
cannot  be  found.  Loo  goes  to  Carver 
City  in  search  of  the  little  one  and  gets 
out  of  society,  while  Ben  and  Alice  leave 
for  Danport  on  the  same  errand  and  they 
get  into  society.  Thus  the  story  goes  on 
with  all  kinds  of  adventures  by  the  dis- 
persed Dogberry  children ;  but  their 
hearts  are  united  by  love,  and  before  we 
get  through  they  are  all  together  again  in 
one  closely  connected  bunch.  There  are 
thirty  illustrations  and  the  book  is  a  prize 
for  any  child. "  —  Boston  Journal  of  Com- 
merce. 


ROCKY   FORK.     i2mo,  illustrated,  1.50 


"The  story  of  a  few  summer  days  in 
a  little  neighborhood  of  farmhouses  of 
central  Ohio  long  ago.  .  .  .  Very 
rarely  has  plain,  rough  country  life  been 
so  faithfully  described.  It  seems  usually 
impossible  to  do  it  without  a  tinge  of 
vulgarity,  which  is  just  what  true  Ameri- 
can country-life  escapes.  Some  fine  fibre 
in  American  nature,  when  close  to  fields 
and  woods  and  sky,  keeps  it  always  noble, 
however  rude  the  exterior.  .  .  .  Mrs. 
Catherwood's  people  are  all   graciously 

OLD   CARAVAN    DAYS. 

"  It  is  a  story  so  bright,  fresh  and  natural 
as  to  seem  real  history.  From  the  very 
opening  chapter  where  Grandma  Pad- 
gett with  Bcbaday  and  Aunt  Krin  set  out 
on  their  long  Westward  journey  toward 
their  new  home  in  the  family  wagon,  with 
the  lame  hired  man  Zene  in  charge  of  the 
load  of  household  goods  in  the  rear,  down 
to  the  moment  when  Pa  Padgett  met 
them  at  the  Illinois  State  line  and  crept 
into  the  big  wagon  where  they  were  in 
camp  fast  asleep,  surprising  all  but  Boba- 
day,  the  interest  is  wholesome  and  in- 
tense.    The  people  they  met  and  talked 

SECRETS  AT    ROSELADIES.     121710,  1.00. 

Boyish  visions  of  a  dazzling  crown  of  gold  and  a  sealed  jar  brimful  of  yellow  money 
materialize  into  a  lot  of  dirty  Indian  bones  and  a  kettle  full  of  arrow  heads.  "  United 
diggers  "  become  "  united  sufferers."  The  scene  of  the  digging  is  a  Shawnee  bury- 
ing mound  on  the  banks  of  the  Lower  Wabash.  The  suffering  begins  there  too,  but 
it  does  not  end  there.     "  Aunt  Jane  "  has  a  word  to  say  about  that. 

"  From  first  to  last  the  story  is  so  en-  "  Strange  and  awesome  are   their  ad- 

tirely  American,  so  full  of  life  and  move-        ventures,  alternately  curdling  and  amus- 


attractive — the  schoolmaster,  with  '  sweet, 
severe  face  under  iron-gray  hair  ' ;  Lisa, 
the  guardian  of  the  doctor's  motherless 
children,  and  the  great -aunt  from  the  far- 
off  Sharon  to  the  children  '  a  rose-leaf 
lady.'  It  is  useless  to  try  to  transplant 
the  children.  They  must  be  known  in 
their  own  woods  and  meadows.  Theirs 
was  a  blessed  world  of  happy  '  make-be- 
lieves'  when  simple  pleasures  yet  had 
charms."  —  N.  Y.  Nation. 


i2mo,  1.25. 

with  on  their  journey  are  the  very  people 
we  have  met  and  talked  with.  And  yet 
young  readers  who  journey  by  railway,  and 
telegraph  back  over  the  hundreds  of  miles 
their  safe  arrival  at  nightfall  will  be  all  the 
more  interested  in  the  old-fashioned  cov- 
ered wagon,  and  dogs  and  kettles  and 
buckets  rattling  along  together  under- 
neath as  pictured  in  the  chapters."  — 
Ch  icago  Journal. 

"  One  of  the  few  books  which  deserve 
to  remain  permanently  on  the  shelves  of 
the  juvenile  library."  —  Boston  Beacon. 


merit,  and  so  dainty  in  diction,  that  we 
doubt  if  anything  better  in  juvenile  litera- 
ture has  been  offered  to  the  public  for 
some  time."  —  St.  Louis  Republic. 

"  It  is  a  good  story  and  the  characters 
are  capitally  drawn.  A  beautiful  little 
book  for  the  library."  —  Chicago  Inter- 
Ocean. 


ing,  of  the  sort  that  boy-readers  revel  in 
witli  enough  of  girl-life  in  them  to  make 
them  bewitching  to  girls  likewise." — Lit- 
erary World,  Boston. 

"The  plot  is  as  fresh  as  a  May  prim- 
rose." —  Homestead,  Springfield. 


SELECT    LIST   OF    BOOKS. 


FAITH  AND  ACTION. 

Selections  from  the  writings  of  F.  D.  Maurice.  With  preface  by 
Rev.  Phillips  Brooks,  D.  D.     i2mo,  i.oo. 

Few  English  clergymen  are  better  known  in  this  country  than  Frederic  D.  Maurice, 
whose  untimely  death,  some  years  ago,  deprived  not  only  England,  but  ths  Christian 
world,  of  one  of  its  ablest  religious  teachers.  He  devoted  a  great  deal  of  his  time  to 
the  social  and  religious  needs  of  the  common  people. 

Maurice  was  a  dear  friend  of  Tennyson.  The  following  lines  in  one  of  the  poet's 
best-known  pieces  refer  to  his  friend  : 

"  How  best  to  help  the  slender  store, 
How  mend  the  dwellings  of  the  poor, 
How  gain  in  life  as  life  advances, 
Valor  and  charity  more  and  more." 

FARMAN  (Ella).     (Mrs.  C.  S.  Pratt.) 

Ella  Farman  is  the  editor  of  Wide  Awake,  and  her  books  are  full  of  sympathy  with 
girl-life,  always  sunshiny  and  hopeful,  always  pointing  out  new  ways  to  do  things  and 
unexpected  causes  for  happiness  and  gladness. 

THE     COOKING-CLUB     OF     TU-WHIT     HOLLOW. 

i2mo,  illustrated,  1.25. 

The  practical  instructions  in  housewifery,  which  are  abundant,  are  set  in  the  midst 
of  a  bright  wholesome  story.  Girls  who  read  this  book  will  not  be  able  to  keep  house 
at  once,  but  they  will  learn  to  do  some  things,  and  they  will  have  an  hour  or  two  of 
genuine  pleasure  in  discovering  how  there  came  to  be  a  cooking-club  and  in  tracing  its 
history. 

GOOD-FOR-NOTHING  POLLY.     i2mo,  illustrated,  1.00. 

Polly  is  not  a  girl  at  all,  but  a  boy,  a  slangy,  school-hating,  fun-lov'ng,  wilful,  big- 
hearted  boy.  "  Nagged"  continually  at  home,  he  wastes  his  time  upon  the  streets  and 
finally  runs  away.  The  book  tells  of  his  adventures.  Mrs.  Pratt  has  a  keen  insight 
into  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  the  little  appreciated  boy-life.  Like  Robert  J.  Burdette, 
she  is  a  master  of  humor  and  often  touches  a  tender  chord  of  pathos.  Every  boy  will 
be  delighted  with  this  book  and  every  mother  ought  to  read  it  who  is,  all  unwittingly 
perhaps,  "freezing"  her  own  noisy  boy  out  of  the  home. 

"' Good-for-Nothing  Polly  '  will  doubt-         England  as  it   has  already  done  in  the 
less    gam  the   admiration   and   win    the        United  States."  —  Bookseller,  London, 
graces  of  as  large  a  circle  of  readers  in 

HOW  TWO  GIRLS  TRIED  FARMING.     i2mo,  illustrated, 

1.00. 

A  narrative  of  an  actual  experience. 

"  The  two  girls  who  tried  farming  pigs  and  chickens,  and  as  they  do  every- 
solved  a  problem  by  taking  the  bull  by  thing  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  their 
the  horns,  and  that  is  often  as  effectual  a  products  are  in  constant  demand."  —  St. 
means  as  can  be  resorted  to.  They  had  Louis  Post  Despatch. 
for  capital  one  thousand  dollars.  With  "We  recommend  it  to  those  girls  who 
this  they  bought  thirty-five  acres  of  are  wearing  out  their  lives  at  the  sewing- 
scraggy  farm  land.  Then  they  hired  out  machine,  behind  counters  or  even  at  the 
as  lady  help  for  the  winter  and  laid  by  teacher's  desk."  —  New  York  Herald. 
enough  money  to  buy  clover  seed,  and  a  "  The  success  of  the  farm  is  almost 
horse  and  a  few  other  necessities.  Dolly  suqiassed  by  the  charm  of  the  record, 
had  learned  to  plough  and  harrow  and  It  shows  a  touch  of  refinement  and  a 
make  hay,  and  even  to  cut  wood.  Both  degree  of  literary  skill  no  less  uncommon 
girls  worked  hard  and  it  is  pleasant  to  than  the  enterprise  which  has  converted 
chronicle  their  success.  Now  they  have  a  bleak  hill-top  of  Michigan  into  a  smil- 
a  prosperous  farm,  and  raise  cows,  sheep,  ing  garden." — New  York  Tril)U7/e. 


D.    LOTHROP  COMPANY'S 


ALLEN  (Willis  Boyd). 

PINE    CONES.      i2mo.  illustrated,  i.oo. 

"  Pine  Cones  sketches  the  adventures  time.  It  will  make  old  blood  run  warmer 
of  a  dozen  wide-awake  boys  and  girls  in  and  revive  old  times  to  hear  them  whoop 
the  woods,  along  the  streams  and  over  and  see  them  scamper.  No  man  or 
the  mountains.  It  is  good,  wholesome  woman  has  a  right  to  grow  too  old  to 
reading  that  will  make  boys  nobler  and  enjoy  seeing  the  young  enjoy  the  spring 
girls  gentler.  It  has  nothing  of  the  over-  days  of  life.  It  is  a  breezy,  joyous,  en- 
goody  flavor,  but  they  are  simply  honest,  tertaining  book,  and  we  commend  it  to 
live,  healthy  young  folks,  wilh  warm  'our  young  readers." — Chicago  Inter- 
blood  in  their  veins  and  good  impulses  Ocean. 
in  their  hearts,  and  are  out  for  a   good 

SILVER    RAGS.      12010,  illustrated,  i.oo. 

"Silver   Rags    is    a    continuation    of  "  Mr.  Willis  Boyd  Allen  is  one  of  our 

Pine   Cones  and   is   quite   as  delightful  finest  writers  of  juvenile  fiction.     There 

reading  as   its   predecessor.     The  story  is   an    open   frankness    in    Mr.    Allen's 

describes  a  jolly  vacation  in  Maine,  and  characters  which  render   them  quite   as 

the  sayings  and  doings  of  the  city  boys  novel  as   they  are   interesting,   and   his 

and  girls  are  varied  by  short  stories,  sup-  simplicity  of  style  makes  the  whole  story 

posed  to  be  told  by  a  good-natured' Uncle  as  fresh  and  breezy  as  the   pine  woods 

Will.'"  —  Tlie  iVatchiuan,  Boston.  themselves."  —  Boston  Herald. 

THE    NORTHERN    CROSS.      i2mo,  illustrated,  i.oo. 

"The  Northern  Cross,  a  story  of  the  idea  of  the    Northern    Cross  for  young 

Boston    Latin    School    by    Willis    Boyd  crusaders  gives  an  imaginary  tinge  to  the 

Allen,  is  a  capital  book  for   boys.     Be-  healthy  realism."  —  Boston  Journal. 

ginning  with  a  drill  upon  Boston  Com-  "Mr.  Willis  Boyd  Allen  appeals  to  a 

mon,  the  book  continues  with  m.any  inci-  large  audience  when  he  tells  a  story  of 

dents  of  school  life.     There  are   recita-  the  Boston  Latin  School  in  the  last  year 

tions,  with  their  successes  and  failures,  of  Master  Gardner's  life.     And  even  to 

drills  and  exhibitions.     Over  all  is  Dr.  those  who   never   had   the   privilege   of 

Francis    Gardner,  the   stern,    eccentric,  studying  there  the  story  is  pleasant  and 

warm-hearted  Head  Master,  whom  once  lively."  — Boston  Post. 
to  meet  was  to  remember  forever!     The 

KELP  :     A  Story  of  the  Isle  of  Shoals,    iamo,  illustrated,  i.oo. 

This  is  the  latest  of  the  Pine  Cone  Series  and  introduces  the  same  characters.  Their 
adventures  are  now  on  a  lonely  little  island,  one  of  the  Shoals,  where  they  camp  out 
and  have  a  glorious  time  not  unmarked  by  certain  perilous  episodes  which  heighten 
the  interest  of  the  story.  It  is  really  the  best  of  a  series  of  which  all  are  delightful 
reading  for  young  people. 

"  It  is  a  healthful,  clean,  bright  book,  fully  through  the  veins  of  young  read- 
which  will  make  the  blood  course  health-        ers."  —  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

ANAGNOS  (Julia  R.). 

PHILOSOPHIC  QUCSTOR;  or,  Days  at  Concord.     i2mo, 

60  cents. 

In  this  unique  book,  Mrs.  Julia  R.  Anagnos,  one  of  the  accomplished  daughters  of 
Julia  Ward  Howe,  presents,  under  cover  of  a  pleasing  narrative,  a  sketch  of  the 
Emerson  session  of  the  Concoid  School  of  Philosophy.  It  has  for  its  frontispiece  an 
excellent  picture  of  the  building  occupied  by  this  renowned  school. 

"The  seeker   of  philosophical    truth,  in  which   the   last  two   sessions   of  the 

who  is  described  as  the  shadowy  figure  of  Concord   School    of   Philosophy,   which 

a  young  girl,  is  throughout  very  expres-  include  that  in  memory  of  Emerson,  and 

sive  of  desire  and  appreciation.     The  im-  its  lecturers  excite  her  feelings  and  inspire 

pressions  she  receives  are  those  to  which  her  thought.     It  is  sung  in  lofty  strains 

such  a  condition  are  most  sensitive  —  the  that  resemble  those  of  the  sacred  woods 

higher  and  more  refined  ones  —  and  the  and  fount,  and  themselves  are  communi- 

responsive  thoughts  concern  the  nature  cative  of  their  spirit.     It  will  be  welcomed 

and  character  of  what  is  heard  or  felt.  as   an  appropriate   souvenir."  —  Boston 

Mrs.  Anagnos  has  written  a  prose  poem.  Globe. 


SELECT    LIST   OF    BOOKS. 


BOLTON   (Sarah  K.). 

HOW  SUCCESS   IS  WON.*i2mo,  i.oo. 

A  fine  portrait  accompanies  each  biography. 


"  Short  sketches  of  the  lives  of  Peter 
Cooper,  Johns  Hopkins,  the  poet  Whit- 
tier,  William  Hunt,  Thomas  Edison, 
Gongh,  John  Wanamaker,  and  a  few 
others.  Mrs.  Bolton  has  done  her  work 
charmingly,  uniting  the  events  of  typical 
lives,  for  which  the  world  is  better  that 
they  have  lived  in  it,  with  the  strong, 
impressive  lessons  of  the  supremacy  of 
character  over  mere  achievement,  and 
that  the  only  worthy  achievements  are 
those  wrought  out  from  high  purpose 
and  noble  motive.  .  .  .  No  better 
book  could  be  put  into  the  hands  of 
young  people  than  Mrs.  Bolton's  stories 
of  '  How  Success  is  Won.'  She  shows 
how'  the  thing  we  name  success  is  the 
result  of  earnest,  honest  industry,  of  pure 


purpose,  of  lofty  aim,  and  the  book 
is  a  mental  and  moral  tonic."  —  Boston 
Traveller. 

"  Nothing  can  be  finer  or  truer  than 
the  biography  of  Peter  Cooper.  It  is  a 
prose  poem,  affecting  the  reader  with 
strong,  noble  and  emulative  impulses." 
—  Cleveland  Leader. 

"  I  wish  the  book  could  circulate  a 
million  copies.  I  know  of  no  book  so 
inspiring  to  a  boy  or  a  poor  deserving 
man."  —  Hezekiah  Butterwokth, 
Editor  Youth's  Companion. 

"The  book  is  a  success.  The  stories 
are  told  charmingly.  I  believe  in  circu- 
lating such  a  stimulus  to  industry,  per- 
sistence and  good  habits."  —  Kate  San- 
born. 


SOCIAL    STUDIES      IN    ENGLAND.       i2mo,   illustrated 


i.oo. 

"  '  Social  Studies  in  England  '  is  packed 
with  interesting  matter  concerning  the 
efforts  in  progress  in  that  country  for  the 
education  of  women  and  the  dispensation 
of  charity.  Its  several  chapters  deal 
with  the  higher  education  of  women  at 
Cambridge,  at  Oxford,  the  London  Uni- 
versity, University  Coilege,  and  in  the 
art  schools;  with  the  new  avenues  of 
work  opened  to  women  in  the  practice  of 
needlework,  decorative  art,  floriculture, 
business,  etc. ;  with  the  special  charities 
under  the  charge  of  Agnes  E.  Weston, 
Mrs.    Spurgeon,   Miss   De    Broen,  and 


others;  and  with  various  London  chari- 
ties, the  Peabody  homes,  working-men's 
colleges,  post-office  savings  banks,  coop- 
erative societies,  etc.,  etc.  Mrs.  Bolton 
spent  two  years  in  England  investigating 
the  subjects  of  which  she  treats,  and  had 
access  to  all  sources  of  information  relat- 
ing to  them."  —  Chicago  Dial. 

"'Social  Studies  '  contains  many  use- 
ful hints  for  the  thousands  of  ladies  who 
are  making  such  praiseworthy  efforts  to 
support  themselves." — Literary  World, 
London. 


SOME    SUCCESSFUL    WOMEN. 

traits.     i2mo,  i.oo.      (4) 


Illustrated   with    por- 


"  It  consists  of  twelve  brief  biograph- 
ies of  American  women  who  have  in 
various  walks  and  professions  earned 
success  so  marked  as  lo  make  their  names 
familiar  to  every  household  in  the  coun- 
*rv,  and  who  have  done  much  to  inspire 
Others  of  their  sex  to  follow  in  their  foot- 
Steps.  Among  them  are  Marion  Har- 
land  (Mrs.  Terhune);  Mrs.  G.  R.  Alden 
(Pansv);  Clara  Barton,  the  philanthrop- 
ist; Alice  Freeman,  the  president  of 
Welleslev  College  ;  Rachel  Bodlev,  dean 
of  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  Phila- 
delphia ;  Frances  E.  Willard,  whose 
labors  in  behalf  of  temperance  have  cjiven 
her  a  place  among  the  foremost  of  Amer- 
ican women  ;   Mrs.  Candace  Wheeler  and 


her  daughter  Dora,  who  have  done  so 
much  to  develop  the  love  for  decorative 
art  in  this  country,  and  to  create  oppor- 
tunities for  its  practical  application  ;  with 
others  who  have  gained  equally  distin- 
guished places  in  other  departments  of 
art,  literature  and  industry."- — Boston 
Transcript. 

"  It  is  good  reading  for  plain  men  and 
will  help  all  sensible  women."  —  Boston 
Beacon. 

"  It  should  have  a  place  on  every 
book  shelf."  —  Providence  Telegram. 

"The  young  woman  who  is  struggling 
hard  with  adverse  circumstances  will  find 
much  to  inspire  her  with  new  courage 
and  hope."  —  Detroit  Free  Press. 


'  Recomm"nded  by  the  State  Board  of  Wisconsin  for  the  public  school  libraries. 


D.    LOTHROP  COMPANY'S 


BOYD  (Pliny  Steele). 


UP  AND  DOWN  THE  MERRIMAC.  Illustrated,  i2mo, 
i.oo. 

A  vacation  trip  upon  one  of  the  most  charming  rivers  in  the  world,  made  in  a  dory 
by  the  author  and  his  two  sons  for  the  purpose  of  hunting,  fishing  and  a  good  tune 
generally. 

"  The  author  is  a  shrewd  thinker;  his  run  through  its  pages  render  it  peculiarly 
reflections   upon   men  and  things  which        attractive."  —  Philadelphia  Item. 

BOYDEN  (Anna  L.). 
ECHOES  FROM    HOSPITAL  AND  WHITE  HOUSE. 

l2mo,  i.oo.       (4) 

"Anna  L.  Boyden  has  undertaken  to  Is  a  well-written,  earnest  account  of  Mrs. 

commemorate  the  services  of  Mrs.   Re-  Pomroy's  valuable  work  as  a  nurse,  and, 

becca  R   Pomroy  in  the  hospitals  of  the  as   such,   an  addition  which   all  will   be 

army  and   in    the   family  of    President  glad  to  have  to  the  bibliography  of  the 

Lincoln  during  the  Rebellion.    The  book  late  War.' ' — Chicago  Tribune, 

BOYESEN  (Hjalmar  Hjorth). 
VAGABOND   TALES.     Square  i2mo,  1.25. 

A  collection  of  characteristic  novellettes  by  one  of  the  most  entertaining  and  most 
popular  of  modern  story-tellers.  No  writer  living — scarcely  excepting  even  the  great 
Bjornstem —  so  thoroughly  understands  the  Norse  character  and  when  into  this  is  in- 
fused the  American  element,  the  succes  of  Prof.  Boyesen's  tales  is  easily  understood. 
There  is  a  breeziness,  a  vigor  and  a  manliness  about  his  characters  that  captivate  the 
reader  at  once  and  combine  dramatic  force  with  literary  skill.  The  stories  included  in 
this  volume  are :  Crooked  John:  A  Child  of  the  Age;  Monk  Tellenbach's  Exile; 
A  Disastrous  Partnership;  Liberty's  Victim;  A  Perilous  Incognito;  Charity. 

BOY'S  WORKSHOP  (A). 

By  a  Boy  and  his  Friends.  With  an  introduction  by  Henry  Ran- 
dall Waite.     Illustrated,  i2mo,  1.00. 

Written  by  '  a  boy  and  his  friends,'  and  do  a  great  many  other  things.     It  is  a 

takes  j  du  right  into  A  Boy^s  Workshop ;  book  that  every  boy  would  like  to  have, 

tells  you  how  to  make  and  to  use  a  saw-  and  that  he  ought  to  have."  —  Advan.ce, 

horse  and   a   work-bench  ;    how   to   use  Chicago. 

tools  and  to  care  for  them;  lets  you  into  "  Next  to  actual  service  with  an  intel- 

the  secret  of  book-rests,  foot-rests,  tables,  ligent  carpenter  or    cabinet-maker  this 

cabinets,  catch-alls,  etc.  ;  shows  you  how  book  is  to  be  valued  for  its  instruction  in 

to  build  wooden  tents,  make  a  fernery,  the  art  and  mystery  of  tools."  —  Chris- 

construct  a  railway  and  train,  bind  mag-  tian  Advocate,  New  York, 
azmes,  take  photographs,  tie  knots,  and 

BRAVE  GIRLS. 

i2mo,  illustrated,  1.50. 

When  young  people  see  the  name  of  Nora  Perry,  Mary  Hartwell  Catherwood  or 
Frank  H.  Converse  appended  to  a  story,  they  prick  up  their  ears  at  once,  for  they 
have  learned  to"  expect  something  of  unusual  interest.  They  will  not  be  disappointed 
when  they  open  this  book  and  read  about  Glen  Hastings,  Kate  Oxfotd,  Sharly  Ray- 
mond and  Bessy  May  —  brave  girls  every  one,  but  in  divers  ways.  Other  writers 
almost  as  well  known  as  these  favorites  have  helped  in  no  slight  degree  to  swell  this 
tributj  to  tlu  sivls. 


SELECT    LIST   OF    BOOKS. 


KNIGHT  (Charles). 
KNOWLEDGE  IS  POWER.     l2mo,  1.50.     (3) 

"The  author  discusses  in  a  clear  and  each  that  a  thorough  knowledge  of  their 

masterlv  way  the  relation  between  capital  work  gives,  and  urges  a  broader  culture 

and  labor,  the   duties  of  employer  and  for  all  classes. "  —  St.  Joseph  Gazette. 
employed,  and    the  great  advantage  to 

KNIGHT  (Mrs.  S.  G.). 

NED  HARWOOD'S  VISIT  TO  JERUSALEM.  4to, 
boards,  illustrated,  1.25.     Library  Edition,  i2ino,  cloth,  1.25. 

The  travellers  were  in  no  hurry.  They  spent  much  time  in  the  places  associated 
with  Christ's  ministry  and  in  the  former  homes  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets.  The 
book  is  of  especial  value  to  Sunday-school  teachers  and  scholars,  because  of  the  light 
it  throws  upon  many  difficult  Scripture  passages  by  its  vivid  descriptions.  The  manu- 
script was  approved  by  Rev.  Selah  Merrill,  D.  £).,  for  many  years  U.  S.  Consul  at 
Jerusalem.  The  strictest  accuracy  has  thus  been  secured  without  imparing  the  inter- 
est of  the  story.     Cover  in  colors  from  original  design. 

"  The  pictures  of  buildings  and  scenery  "It   tell?   about    just   the  things   that 

are  worth  the  price  of  the  book." —  would  interest  a  boy  in  the  Holy  Land." 
U  'oman's Journal.  —  Union  Signal. 

KOKHANOVSKY  (Madame). 

RUSTY     LINCHPIN    and    LUBOFF    ARCHIPOVNA. 

Translated  from  the  Russian  by  M.  M.  S.  and  J.  L.  E.     i2mo,  1.25. 

"  Here  are  two  exquisite  idyls  of  Rus-  come  so  fascinating  to  Western  readers, 

sian  rural  life.     Innocent  and  ingenuous,  and  help  us  to  realize  how  truly  the  aims 

ignorant  of  the  falsity  and  fever  of  fash-  and  the  emotions  of  common  life  are  the 

ionable  life,  they  have  the  freshness  and  same  under  all  garbs  and  mall  lands."  — 

simplicity  of   a   good    child.      The  local  Chicago  Dial. 

coloring  adds  to  their  bright  cheerfulness,  "Of    a   number    of  works  of    fiction 

and  the  honest,  kindly  characters  move  translated  from  the  Russian  within  a  year 

us  to  a  devout   thankfulness."  —  Chris-  or  two,  no  book,  as  a  whole,  is  so  purely 

tian  Union,  N.  Y.  reflective  of  Russian  domestic  life,  or  so 

"They  bring    us    very  close   to  that  sweet  in  tone  as  '  The  Rusty  Linchpin.' " 

strange  civilization  which  has  lately  be-  — Boston  Globe. 


LAMB  (Charles). 


"  Seeking  his  materials  for  the  most  part  in  the  common  paths  of  life—  often  in  the 
humblest  —  he  gives  an  importance  to  everything  and  sheds  a  grace  over  all."  — 
Thomas  Noon  Talfourd. 

A  DISSERTATION  UPON   ROAST  PIG.     Small  quarto, 

illustrated,  1.00. 

A  separate  issue  of  the  humorous  masterpiece  of  Lamb,  "  the  frolic  and  the  gentle." 
Printed  on  heavy  paper,  in  clear,  large  type,  characteristically  illustrated  by  L.  J. 
Bridgman. 

"  A  little  holiday  book,  the  outside  of  those  charming  literary  trifles,  whose 
which  is  in  admirable  harmony  with  what  lightness  and  brightness  will  always  keep 
it  contains.     The  dissertation  is  one  of        it  popular."  —  Boston  Transcript. 


D.   LOTHROP  COMPANY'S 


CLARK  (H.  H.,  U.  S.  N.),     continued. 
NAVAL  CADET  BENTLY.     nmo,  illustrated,  1.50. 

This  may  be  considered  a  sequel  to  "  Boy  Life  in  the  U.  S.  Navy."  As  Joe  Bently 
advances  in  his  chosen  profession  he  meets  with  many  new  and  intensely  interest- 
ing adventures,  while  the  clear  explanation  ot  the  little  understood  details  of  naval  life, 
which  made  the  first  book  so  instructive,  are  continued  in  this  with  marked  success. 

CLARK  (Mrs.  S.  R.  Graham). 

YENSIE  WALTON.     i2mo,  illustrated,  1.50. 

"  It  will  be  welcomed  by  all  lovers  of  drudge   by   her  aunt,  who  is  a  coarse, 

high-toned  fiction,  not  only  for  the  deli-  vulgar  woman,  and  at  first  she  is  passion- 

cious  fragrance  of  true,  abiding  principle  ate   and   disobedient.      But   a   Christian 

which  is  breathed  from  every  page,  but  teacher  develops  a  new  life  in  her   and 

for  the  continuous  and  increasing  interest  she  becomes   a   sunbeam   in  the   house, 

of  the  narrative."  —  St.  Paul  Dispatch  even  softening  the  heart  of  her  aunt.''  — 

"  It  is  about  an  orphan  girl  who  finds  Portland  Transcript 
a  home  with  an   uncle,  and  is  made  a 

THE   TRIPLE   "  E"     121110,1.50. 

"'The  Triple  E'  is  the  name  playfully  ner.     The  two  sisters  are  compelled  to 

given  by  her  friends  to  a  girl  of  eighteen,  enter  a  large  manufactory  in  order  to  gain 

whose  three  names  begin  with  that  letter,  a  subsistence  and  earn  means  for  sup- 

and  who  is  left  with  a  younger  sister  to  porting  their  charges.      The    record  of 

make  her    way  in   the   world   after   the  their  experiences   in  this  new  life,  their 

death  of  her  parents.     She  has  promised  trials,  and  the  victory  over  adversity  they 

her  mother  on  her  deathbed  to  not  only  finally  achieved,  is  told  in  a  manner  which 

care  for  her  sister,  but  also  for  an  insane  commands  attention  from  first  to  last." 

uncle,  and  a  little  girl  waif  who  came  into  Burlington  Hawkeye. 
their  family  in  the  most  mysterious  man- 

ACHOR.      i2mo,  1.50. 

A  sequel  to  the  "Triple  E. "  It  has  the  same  characters  and  solves  the  mystery 
which  there  enveloped  the  heroine's  life,  who,  now  grown  to  womanhood  devotes  her- 
self to  the  reclamation  of  a  depraved  father. 

YENSIE  WALTON'S  WOMANHOOD.     12010,  illustrated, 

1.50. 

A  sequel  to  "  Yensie  Walton," 

"  Yensie  has  arrived  at  the  dignity  of  her  in  her  own  wedded  home,  a  wife  and 

an   instructor  and    her    experience   will  mother    to  serve    as    a    model.'' —  Tlie 

greatly   interest   those   who   have   to   do  Watchman,  Boston. 

with  the  moral    and   mental   training   of  "  Not  written  for   critics,  but  for   the 

children.     The   deformed   boy,  brilliant,  sorrowing,  burdened  toilers  of  my  own 

but   embittered   by  his   physical   misfor-  sex."  —  Preface. 

tune,  taxes  Yensie's  skill  and   persever-  "  The  story  is  well  told  and  interesting, 

ance  to  the  utmost.     She  gradually  wins  and  the  moral  of  it  is  the  superioritv  of 

him,  however,  working  a  beautifulchange  duty   to  pleasure,  as  a    life-motive."  — 

in   the  boy's  disposition.     Then   she   is  Christian  at  Work,  New  York, 
met  by  'woman's  destiny,'  and  we  leave 

HERBERT    GARDENELL'S    CHILDREN.      i2mo,  1  50. 

"  From  beginning  to  end  its  teachings  with  five  children,  and    their   characters 

are  strong,  pure,  sweet,  inculcating   not  and   home  life,  with   Us   vicissitudes   of 

morality  simply,  but  the  religion  of  Jesus,  light  and  shadow,  are  the  subject  of  the 

and   all  without   a    particle  of  'preach-  story,   which  is   well   told   and  conveys 

ment.'" — Union  Signal,  Chicaco.  impressive     lessons."  —  Lutheran     Ob- 

"  Herbert   GardentU    is   a   clergyman  server,  Philadelphia. 


if-ij^;^!:"""'-1^ 


.     ."'■'■' '" 


